RE: Kyrie Eleison
by Manaxsavior
Summary: The gears turn and turn against our will. Slowly, like sand in an hourglass. We start to drift apart. You stay still... but i'm pushed forward. HitsuOC, IchiRuki, etc. SEQUEL to WYLM
1. IMPORTANT UPDATE

Hmmm. I guess I really did make KE too confusing. -sigh- Okay. I'll fastforward a bit and THEN go to the past. Gomen. Luckily I already had a chapter or two already set up for when it gets back to Soul Society so it'll get back in a couple days.

So, the new one will be:

RE: Kyrie Eleison (So original isn't it? XD)

Yeah...Once again I apologise so much! I'm such a novice writer! Feel free to burn me alive or see if I can drown if tied to a chair! (Yeah, blame the Crucible for making me put these examples of killing me)

Alright, time to pull more all-nighters!

-Mana

Yumi: Eh? So our vacation is cut off?

Hitsugaya: I knew it would happen...

Mana: meany, at least I tried

Archer: The kid has a point you know, Yuki-Ouji (Snow Prince)

Hitsugaya: WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?

Hinamori: Now now, Shiro-chan

Hitsugaya: It's Hitsugaya-Taicho!

Yumi: But Chibi-chan sounds so cute! Why not?

Hitsugaya: ...Bankai...

Everyone: GAAAH! -runs away-

Hitsugaya: Hmph -smirk-


	2. Normal as Normal Gets

**Kyrie Eleison**

**Chapter: **Normal as normal gets

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to:** Dewdrops (By: Yuki kaijura. I'm making an amv for it, and it has such a beaituful violin part...)

**Quote of the Day:**

Expect the worst. It's the least you can do.

ONCE AGAIN I APOLOGISE FOR THE READERS OF KYRIE ELEISON! I know, I must have made a lot of peoples heads hurt... Well, can't say I didn't try. It was fun torturing my OC's too. So, when that part comes back, i'll torture them some more. So, forget what happened in the chapters before if you read the first couple chapters...Okay? Thanks

Most of this chapter is like a re-cap and follow in. In a nutshell...short

* * *

It was a quiet morning in the Seireitei. The sun burned brightly in the blue sky and the sweet air of the season came through the windows of the tenth division office. It was the middle of summer now. A season had passed since the coming Spring, when everything seemed to have begun. It seemed like the perfect day to just sit back, relax, and enjoy…

"MATSUMOTO!"

A sigh was heard nearby, "Here we go again…"

The short brunette mused to herself from her office next door when she heard the inevitable roar of a pissed off dragon chasing a somewhat sober vice-captain. She stacked the finished papers carefully and placed them inside a basket to bring to her Taicho. When Yumi opened the door to his office, she saw him with his hand on his temple while strumming his fingers to a silent beat in his mind.

"Tough morning again, Hitsugaya-kun?" she asked innocently but couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face. He groaned in response but accepted the finished paperwork on his desk with silent gratitude.

"It's Hitsugaya-Taicho, Miyamoto." He sighed deeply and drank from his tea. Yumi sent him a lop-sided grin and leant on his desk with her elbows.

"Is someone having a bad day?"

"No, but someone will if I don't restrain myself from giving her more work." At the threat that she knew he would carry out, she laughed nervously and got off his desk.

"Gomen, Gomen, but really; are you alright?"

"Yes, now go take a breather or something. You're still recovering, aren't you?"

Yumi rolled her eyes, "Sure, _okaa-san_. But are you sure you want me to leave with this? You're recovering too, y'know." She motioned to the large pile of papers that were screaming of Matsumoto's handiwork.

"Whatever." Hitsugaya ignored her comment and gestured toward the door. "Now go before I change my mind."

After contemplating to herself for a moment, she shrugged and made her way to the Kuchiki Mansion. Hey, if Yachiru could get in and completely avoid the wrath of Senbozakura, then it's possible!

The long walk from the tenth division to the sixth was a boring indeed. Some people were still recovering and reorganizing from the little incident with Aizen. At least this time, the paperwork load was distributed among the functioning divisions evenly instead of going straight to the tenth. Apparently while she was out, Aizen was proclaimed alive and was behind the murder of the Central 46. A part of Yumi was glad he was gone, but she also wanted to know… What exactly happened back there underground? Had it been the effects of Aizen's zanpakto? But she hadn't seen it released yet…

It was too late anyway. Aizen Sosuke had escaped with the surprising help of the Hollows. Not only that, he didn't escape empty handed.

The Hyougoku, a highly condensed form of spiritual energy. Capable of both destruction and creation to a certain degree. Aizen had forcibly taken it from within Kuchiki Rukia, the original host that Urahara chose to be its hiding place. When she heard that, she vowed the next time she was Urahara she would hit the ex-shinigami so hard his head would spin.

Somewhere in the human world, a certain shopkeeper sneezed

Everything had happened so fast in so little time. Just a few months ago, she had joined the tenth division under Hitsugaya Toshiro's care. Never did she think that she would meet so many people. Matsumoto, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Archer, and even Hitsugaya… So many people in one lifetime. Something like that can make your head spin!

"Oi, Yumi!" called a voice. Yumi snapped out of her thoughts and looked ahead to see bright red hair.

She waved her hand and smiled, "Yo! What's up, Renji!" The Fukutaicho caught up to her with a broad grin on his face. "Finally I see someone that's not grouchy today."

"Let me guess: Matsumoto and Hitsugaya-Taicho?"

"Hai," she sighed a little, "By the way, where are you going?"

"Oh, I just came back from dropping off some paperwork at the second division. Man, after what just happened here, everyone's busting their butts with papers."

"Especially my captain," she joked and shook her head, "Anyway, I'm going to bug Kuchiki-Taicho. Wanna practice after?"

"Aa, sure—wait, you're not really going to do that to my captain, right…?" he asked nervously and saw her nod enthusiastically.

"But of course! I've been cooped up in a hospital bed for half a month! Even after that I've been on house arrest because of Taicho! You can't expect me not to, Aka-kun!"

Renji frowned, "I swear…if I end up on the wrong end of Senbonzakura instead of you I'm going to kill you."

"You can try!" she stuck her tongue out for a second and began to skip away.

Despite himself, Renji chuckled to himself and put his hand on his head, "That girl…"

* * *

The female Daemon sighed, allowing her body to relax for a bit while lying in the shade of the cherry blossom tree. A few petals landed softly on her black hair, which had grown from its original shoulder length down to the center of her back. It's been a while since she had the chance to at least take in all that happened up until now. Sure, meeting with the annoying kid again was the highlight but so much more had happened.

Hundreds… No—thousands of times she asks herself the same damned question.

'_Is this really the right thing to do?'_

"Oi, think fast," Called a voice as she instantly caught the projectile hurtling towards her face. It was a wooden container full of water. Raising a brow, she lifted her head from her comfortable position to glare at whoever disturbed her well-needed nap. She wasn't surprised to see the only Daemon in the whole world that had the balls to irk her to an extent. His spiky brown locks swayed with the wind and his gleaming amber eyes shone with mischief.

"Ah, Prissy Stray. How is it that you always find a way to annoy me?" the girl asked as she took a sip of water.

"Hmmm," He hummed in thought and joined her beneath the blossoming tree. Then with a playful grin he replied, "How is it that you always find a way to care, Reisha?"

"Urusai…" she rolled her eyes to the heavens and closed her eyes momentarily.

All was quiet for those precious moments of silence. There was no telling how long this peace would last. No doubt it would be gone soon. The three Taicho have already left Soul Society, leaving a large gap in the Gotei 13. On consent of Miyamoto Yumiko, the two Daemons were allowed to remain for a brief period of time before they had to depart. Of course, no one apart from Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku really knew what exactly those two were. Heck, if Kurotsuchi Mayuri ever found out, he would go at no end to hunt them down to 'play'. Nevertheless, security was tight in Soul Society. The captain positions would have to be filled fast, lest there be enemies ready to jump the gun at the opportunity.

"Hey…" Archer's ears pricked at the sound of her voice and he turned towards her. "Don't forget. I'm still on orders. So don't expect this…'whatever' thing between us to continue. After tonight, we're enemies again. Understood?"

His eyes hardened for a brief moment before he smirked and nodded his head. "Agreed. Anyway, it's not like I'm really a part of Aeon anymore, right? Hunt me all you want, but you still won't find what you're looking for…Adachi-san." Archer got up and walked away, leaving her with those parting words. Reisha scoffed and smiled bitterly at the endless sky.

"Yeah, just keep talking to yourself."

* * *

_-Later that night-_

The room buzzed with electronic equipment as the large screens were filled with cryptic text. As always, Kurotsuchi Mayuri's lab was filled with a wide range of machinery and tubes.

A faint sound stood out from the mechanical hum in the room as two shadows made their way to the main computer. One of them went straight to the keyboard, punching in codebreakers as they quickly made their way to the top secret files. Meanwhile, the other covered the area and made sure it was clear.

"Are you done yet?" an impatient female voice asked. Her amethyst eyes shone with annoyance as she flipped her dark black hair. The other scoffed and shook his head.

"If you want to get something done without getting caught then be quiet!"

As soon as he had finished his sentence, the screen flashed and a red light illuminated the once dark lab.

**-INTRUDER ALERT! INSTRUDER ALERT! SYSTEM HACK ABORTED-**

"God damn it!" he cursed as the female rolled her eyes.

"Who's the one that tripped the alarm almighty silent one?" Her tone dripped with sarcasm but her eyes hardened at the sound of footsteps closing in. "Get the data and hurry up. The mission is done."

"Already done," he said and he took out the data sphere. "After you, Adachi."

"Shut up," she whispered under her breath as both of them disappeared long before the authorities had appeared.

* * *

_**-:Omake Theatre:-**_

Hitsu: So what is this, take two?

Mana: Urusai...I know I suck badly

Yumi: Oh c'mon. At least we get some more action already in the first chapter! Cheer up!

Mana: True, true. I don't wanna waste anymore time that I already did... Instead of making another story bin, I put this in the old one cuz it was on Shiro's b-day. hehe

Hitsu: Don't remind me...

Yumi: Oh yeah! Man, that was hilarious...

Mana: Eh? What happened?

Hitsu: Let's just say on Kuchiki Taicho's birthday, he won't waste any time putting up a barrior of at least 3 Danku this year...

Yumi: -whispers- Taicho almost lost his--

Hitsu: Miyamoto, you say another word of what conspired and I will personally make sure you never go to the human world ever again...

Yumi: -teary eyes- No pocky...?

Hitsu: No pocky, no ramune, and no Kingdom Hearts... None of that 'Monster Hunter' crap either

Yumi: OH HELL NO! -tackles-

Mana: -sweat drop- ...


	3. Accuse my God

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Accuse my God, I'll Spit on yours

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **Senna (Bleach OST). I just watched Bleach 252! I know it's a filler, but the fight between Kouga and Byakuya was simply epic!

The title came from the chapter "Spit on your own God" in Bleach. Yeah, I read it again when I was supposed to be doing my English essay due in a couple hours…hehe

And for the record, I like Soi Fong… Just to let you guys know…

**Quote of the day:**

It's about time you found out whether or not you're on the cross or banging in the nails. -From a movie I forgot...

* * *

The door to Yumi's office slammed open abruptly, revealing a surprisingly disheveled Hitsugaya. "Miyamoto!" her captain called with urgency in his tone for the first time since the Aizen incident. She jumped up from her desk with a sharp cry, allowing the ink jar to spill all over her paperwork and uniform.

"Oh, come on!" she complained, attempting to wipe off the offending liquid with fruitless effort. "What in the name of all that is holy made you do that, Taicho!?"

"No time to explain. You need to come with me now," he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her chair.

Allowing herself to be dragged, she focused on his hand in hers. The colors seemed so mismatched. Tanned against pale. She wasn't what you called porcelain white, but more of a healthy shade.

The warmth of his hand seeped into her, spreading to the whole of her arm down to her toes. It was…nice to say the least. However, the thin frown on his face and furrowed brow washed away such feelings. Something had to be wrong if her captain was this bothered by something.

In no time, they both found themselves in front of the First Division, where all the captains assembled for their regular meetings. Before she could ask, he turned to her with his eyes demanding.

"Now listen to me," he said, "No matter what… Do not speak and don't do anything unless you are spoken to directly."

"Okay…?" she nodded warily, now anxious as to what was waiting for them beyond those doors. And what she saw was what she had not been expecting.

In the middle of the room, two figures were on the knees on the floor. Their arms were bound with strong kido and spears kept their movements to a bare minimum. Her lips parted with the instinctive intake of breath to call out but Hitsugaya cast his arm out to halt her actions. Understanding the gesture, she mentally reprimanded herself.

'He just told you not to do anything you idiot!' she slapped her conscious and focused. 'So calm down and let him handle it!'

"Hitsugaya Toshiro of the Tenth Division," Hitsugaya stated in the formal greeting he must make before the people in the room. "As you requested Soutaicho, I brought Miyamoto Yumiko."

"Good. Now we can truly begin this meeting. Kurotsuchi-Taicho, if you would."

The strange scientist stepped out of the lines of captains with a grin on his face. "Of course. Now… Last night, there was a break in at my lab. Somehow, they passed all of my security systems and escaped with some very important data!"

"If I may," began Ukitake, "But surely your monitoring system would have warned you of this before they escaped!"

"Well, yes that should be the case," he spoke and walked over to one of the bound prisoners. Mayuri grabbed his chin and let his long fingernail trail upon his cheek. His lips curled wickedly as he completed his sentence. "But this filth I suspect…is of Daemon decent."

Kyouraku whistled and tipped his hat down. "I haven't heard that in a good amount of years now."

His amber-eyed captive forcefully turned his head away and then caught sight of Yumi behind him. He sent her a look of reassurance but her pounding heart wouldn't stop.

"Daemon?" Yamamoto opened his elderly eyes in interest. "I see… If I recall, they could adapt well to technology. Now, Miyamoto Yumiko." She jumped up at the sound of her name.

"Y-Yes Soutaicho?"

"Come forward."

She looked nervously to her side where her captain was, but he didn't match her eyes. Instead, they were focused elsewhere, as if purposely avoiding her purple eyes. Feeling hurt, she took a hesitant step just behind the two Daemons.

"Do you have any idea as to where these two were last night? Or can you at least know whether or not they were in the vicinity of the thirteenth division at the time?"

"I…" she hesitated again, knowing the lives of those two rested on what she would say. She couldn't lie. Sure, she knew Archer of all people would dare go near. But Reisha… Yumi never really found the reason why she even stayed with her. Back in the human world, she had tried to kill her—maybe even take her away somewhere.

"Well?"

"I cannot say that I can either confirm or deny their whereabouts last night, Soutaicho." She spoke carefully. After saying that she could have sworn she saw approving looks of a few captains. "I'm sorry."

"Nonetheless, we have surveillance of the events that have taken place." He answered and Yumi frowned. If they had proof, then had that been a test? To see if she would prove loyal to Soul Society or her friend?

'_Even if it is for the sake of Soul Society that was kind of a blow below the belt…'_ she thought, slightly peeved but let it go. Yumi hoped that with age came the loss of naivety, not mental stability.

A large unfocused image projected in the middle of the room, showing the lab just as it was being infiltrated. There were two figures scurrying around. On had light spiky hair, presumably male from the build. It was dark, so it was hard to make out the actual face of the other person, but they could see the long dark hair and a familiar black uniform. All identifications on the person pointed to the other Daemon on the floor: Adachi Reisha. Yumi took a glance at the female and froze when she saw the speechless expression on her face. As she watched the screen she grew paler, like she had seen a ghost or something…

"K-Kurotsuchi-Taicho…" began Yumi as all eyes turned towards her. "Isn't there a clearer image?"

"Well, it should, but something disrupted my cameras…" he admitted but then raised a brow at a thought, "Maybe due to a third intruder…?"

"Yes, we would like to know where exactly Miyamoto-san was," This time it was an unfamiliar voice to Yumi. It belonged to Sajin Komamura, whose face was no longer concealed behind its mask. It goes to say she was surprised at this turnout but said nothing else to her accusation.

"I can vouch for Miyamoto's whereabouts during last night's activities," Hitsugaya finally spoke up, his tone authoritative. Even though it looked like he was standing up for her, Yumi felt a cold wind sweep past her. None of the occupants in the room seemed to notice so she brushed it off for now. "She remained at my division, so that last theory is unlikely."

"Ah, so you keep the little girl on a chain, do you Hitsugaya-Taicho?" the scientist spoke lightly. "Or is it that you took a liking to this specimen?" The younger captain's eyes hardened and the temperature in the room must have dropped a few more degrees. The look on his face surprised Yumi as she took a step back involuntarily. Her hand clasped the front of her ink stained uniform.

"That's enough!" Yamamoto's elderly voice boomed, silencing the argument before it could escalate. The tension in the room was so thick that it beginning to get hard to breathe. Even with three captains missing, Yumi at this point could say they could take on an army of hollows with ease. "Kurotsuchi Mayuri, although your presumptions may hold valid reasons, refrain from making unneeded comments. As for you Hitsugaya Toshiro…" he trailed off and studied the young captain carefully. "If you are sure of this then what about these two? If I do recall, you are the main reason as to why we have sheltered these two after the recent events with Aizen Sousuke. Can I truly trust your word that you had nothing to do with this yourself?"

His fists tightened, pride hurt. Kuchiki Byakuya frowned slightly. Why was Yamamoto Genryuusai speaking like this? Had he been testing both Hitsugaya and Miyamoto? Or simply teasing?

'_At any rate, Hitsugaya Toshiro's response will most likely affect the outcome of this meeting…' _he thought dully and then noted Yumi clutching the front of her uniform in discomfort, which he might add was almost covered with drying ink in the front. A pained look flashed in her eyes as Byakuya couldn't help but mentally sigh at this pointless argument.

"As captain of the tenth division, you have my sworn word that I had absolutely no knowledge of what conspired." Hitsugaya answered smoothly, bowing his head slightly in respect. Moreover, it was to mask him biting back colorful words to more than just a few people.

All was silent for a few moments before Yamamoto sighed and tapped his staff on the wooden floors. "Alright. We shall continue this another day since we are sending the Ryoka off in a matter of days. For now, the two suspects will be held at the twelfth division under Kurotsuchi Mayuri's care for the time being." Soft gasps escaped a number of people in the room, including Unohana Retsu.

Unable to contain it any longer, she spread her arm out indignantly and spoke. "Soutaicho, please reconsider—"

"Bite your tongue, girl!" snapped Soi Fong, her words like a whip to Yumi's ego. "Know your place or you'll find yourself crawling in the dirt of the lowest region of Rukongai."

Tempted to show her just who knew her place, she was about to go over but a hand was placed on her shoulder to stop her movements. Turning her head, Yumi nearly jumped to see that it was Kuchiki Byakuya who had possibly saved her from an early grave.

"Kuchiki-Taicho…"

"Miyamoto Yumiko, indeed it would be wise to control your temper at this stage right now," he…chastised? There was that demanding edge to it yes, but that look in his slate grey eyes told her much more than that. Reluctantly, she lowered her head in surrender. She would not allow Soi Fong to enjoy the look of shame on her face.

"This meeting is officially dismissed."

As all the captains began to flow out, she noticed that her own wasn't leaving. Instead, he looked at her for a moment before turning away to walk towards the Soutaicho. A frown creased her features as she slowly followed the crowd.

But I guess Soi Fong couldn't help but add in one more stab to the gut.

"Oh, and try teaching your whelp the meaning of integrity, Hitsugaya-Taicho. She looks like a humiliating mess."

Facing burning with humiliation, she quickened her pace with dark thoughts beginning to form on how to exact revenge on the corps. leader.

* * *

"That—that…urgh!" Yumi burst out as soon as she was escorted back to the tenth division with the vice-captain lounging on her sofa. Her uniform was swapped for a new one and her hand flew across the documents in haste. Surprisingly, her speed resulted in the paperwork mountain diminishing even faster than normal. That didn't matter though. That work was all that kept Yumi from trashing her office along with the other divisions on her way to the second. "Sure, I know I may have acted a little out of place but I know they didn't do it! Especially Archer!"

"Yumi-chan, don't worry about it." Matsumoto reassured while popping another rice cracker in her mouth. After chewing thoroughly, she winked at the younger girl, "I'm sure Taicho is taking care of it right now."

"Yeah…" She smiled, a little guilty that she doubted Hitsugaya's ability. After the crazy events she had asked him if it would be alright if they could stay for just a little while longer, since they helped her out so much. There was no doubt Archer would behave, and she only hoped Reisha would do the same given the circumstances.

When she had caught up with the two of them, they looked strangely…at peace with each other. When she asked about it, Archer simply brushed it off and Reisha annoyed her enough to forget the subject completely. They were hiding something, but what surprised her more was that they were getting along. Well, to anyone else it looked like they hated each other more. But the air was more teasing and playful, unlike back in the human world where they split blows and drew blood.

A deep sigh escaped her as she set the brush down; making sure the ink bottle was securely sealed this time around. Yumi set her head down using her arms as a pillow and dully stared at a random crack in the wall.

"Rangiku-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Where does Hitsugaya-kun go later in the day?"

"Erm, I think he goes to the hospital. Why do you ask?" she asked, raising a brow at her sudden interest. "He visits Hinamori Momo, Fukutaicho of the Fifth Division. She still hasn't woken up so he visits her every now and then."

"I see…" she nodded slowly. It was no wonder whenever he would come back he would look so worn and tired. It was like you could feel the lingering feelings of weakness. Even then when he would visit her in the hospital they would exchange brief words, nothing special. "Are they close?"

"They knew each other in Rukongai. Back then, it was just the three of them: Taicho, Hinamori, and their grandmother," the busty woman smiled at distant memories long past. "Taicho was actually a little more lively back then than now. I guess that's what a couple centuries does to a person. Especially after leaving his home."

Yumi raised a brow. "Hitsugaya-kun was lively? Define that please?"

"How to begin," she stalled, the cat-like grin never leaving her face. "The first time I met him was when he was buying something for his grandma. Honestly, he just let the shopkeeper walk over him like dirt! I stepped in and somehow taicho almost turned anemic!"

"You mean you crushed him with your inhumane breasts?" she raised a brow.

"Details, details, who needs them?"

"Matsumoto…" a voice came from the door as Yumi jumped. Once again, the ink tipped over and she was glad she hadn't left it open. "Don't fill her head with ideas."

"I only told her the truth, Taicho!" Matsumoto chimed, wagging a finger in the air. When his stern look never disappeared, her grin faltered slightly but regained its brightness. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone!"

"R-Rangiku-chan!" Yumi frowned but the vice-captain disappeared from the room leaving the two of them. The air was a little awkward so she played with her fingers a little. "Uhm…do you want to sit?"

"No, it's fine," he spoke, "I have to talk to you."

She went silent as he furrowed his brows in that way when he was in deep thought. Truth be told, he looked like hell. His whole body posture was tense and his reiatsu felt barely restrained. Those emerald eyes of his lost a little of its normal edge to it. Instead, they looked more wary and tired. No kidding since all of Soul Society was still in shambles. This whole ordeal was just more to place on his plate of burdens.

"Soutaicho has decided on what to do with Sayomi and Adachi…as well as you." He spoke carefully and she got up out of her seat. Hesitantly, she dared to walk up to him and touch his arm. He stared at it hard for a good couple seconds before continuing. "They won't be executed, but until further notice they will remain at the twelfth division."

"What!?" Yumi withdrew her hand back as if burnt and narrowed her eyes in anger. "They'll die before they get another trial if they stay with that lunatic scientist!"

"That 'lunatic scientist' is a respected member of the Gotei 13, Miyamoto!" Hitsugaya retorted heatedly.

"Oh?" she challenged. "Well then maybe Soul Society needs to fix more than just a few missing captains!"

"What did you say?" he spoke slowly, muscles tensing at the insult to the place he vowed to protect when he became captain.

She clenched her fists tightly, so tight that her nails bit into the tender skin that once held onto his hand not too long ago. "I'm saying that if Soul Society respects that kind of person, then it's not worth the captaincy!" her violet eyes flashed with an unfamiliar anger and her reiatsu fluctuated ever so slightly. "Do you know just how many lives that man took just for the sake of research!? How many innocents that didn't deserve such cruel treatments?" Unconsciously, images flashed in her mind. Similar events of what they were arguing about.

_Tubes and wires filled a dark room_

_Glass pods encasing 'something'_

_Blurred voices as if floating under water_

"Do you even know what you're talking about, Miyamoto?" Hitsugaya questioned sharply, snapping her out of her momentary daze.

"Do you? Tell me, Hitsugaya. Why did you join the Gotei 13? Tell me exactly why you would leave your grandmother in Rukongai."

Icy reiatsu flared as the temperature of the room seemed to drop on one side of the room. Both Shinigami nearly went head to head in this battle, like fire and ice. "That is none of your business." His voice was stone cold as soon as the conversation went back to the past. "You don't know anything about me." Yumi flinched slightly but held fast.

"_Taicho_," she let the honorific roll off her tongue like a horrible taste. "You can't expect me to when you never let me! So let me tell you something about me: can you expect me to simply let my friends die? No—do you expect me to not do anything at all when it had nothing to do with them!?"

"Well, you'll have to because you are to remain under house arrest at the Sixth Division," he spoke with decisiveness and turned back to the door. Yumi froze and the breath from her lungs left as if she was punched in the gut. All she could do was choke out one single question.

"W-What…?"

"I spoke with Kuchiki-Taicho already. For now you'll be under the Sixth Division's care." Hitsugaya slid the door open and made his leave. "Be glad that it wasn't a holding cell you were confined to for interrogations, Miyamoto."

The door closed with finality and she immediately fell to her knees in shock. Her violet eyes went wide with shock and her body trembled slightly. Whether it was from distress or anger was a mystery to her. All she knew was that the bitter cold stabbing at her was gone from the room

But not from her heart

* * *

_"See you later"_

_And you raise you hand and wave me away_

_I'm waiting intensely for you to come_

_But I don't see your form_

_It's just a little painful but escape and go close to the stars_

_-Miyamoto Yumiko_

* * *

**Questions:**

**1. How did you like the chapter? Was is confusing?(Explain)**

**2. Kurotsuchi's security system was disrupted by something or someone. Any guesses as to how or who? Or was it really Yumi?**

**3. Toshiro has, in a nutshell, moved Yumi to the sixth division. Is this really for the good of Soul Society? Or better yet, Toshiro?**

Kya, 3676 words. Gods. I took way too long... But I'm halfway through school so yay!

BTW, that last part for Yumi is from the song Kizuna Iro


	4. Vision

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Vision

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **I can't hate you anymore (By: Nick Lachey)

**Quote of the day: **Killing two birds with one stone? How about two birds one grenade? - Me (I had a random day playing Call of Duty when I got the trophy)

* * *

"Oh my gosh…" the busty vice captain huffed and sat up from her spot on the couch. "Taicho, you're not the least bit worried that Yumi's all by her lonesome at the sixth division?"

"And why should I?" her captain asked, not taking his eyes off the paperwork _she_ should be doing.

"Because!" Matsumoto crossed her arms and sent him a sly look, "Yumi-chan is a cute girl. I wouldn't be surprised if some seated officer is sweet talking her right now—"

"Matsumoto," he slowly spoke and glared at her. "For one, both Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji would never tolerate that behavior from any of their subordinates. And besides…" Hitsugaya's voice trailed off and the calligraphy pen he held stopped writing.

The vice-captain took notice of his manner of speaking and smiled slyly. "Taicho?"

"Miyamoto's strong. She wouldn't let her guard down anyway…" an almost sinister smirk was carved on his lips and the temperature dropped a few degrees. "But if anything _does_ happen, someone will wish they were never born…"

She couldn't take it anymore and burst out into laughter. "Hah! I knew it! Taicho has the hots for little Yumi-chan!"

"S-Shut up! And I do not!" the ice wielder turned a nice shade of pink, even on his tanned skin.

"Oh?" Matsumoto sent him a cat-like grin. "What's all this I hear about a secret surprise for her then?" His emerald eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment.

"Th-That's!"

"Wow, you've been stuttering a lot! Is it because you're thinking of her?"

"No, I—"

"Aw, how cute! But don't go thinking indecent thoughts about her just yet, Taicho! That can wait until you want kids~!"

"MATSUMOTO I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

* * *

Yumi sighed deeply as she leaned sluggishly against the window of her temporary room at the sixth division. The room was homey with fine wood furnishings and bookshelves lined with novels and other references. The orange and yellow glow that signaled evening poured in, bathing the room in warm colors. All in all, it was almost a complete replica of her first room. But…

It wasn't the same.

Idly, her eyes drifted to one wall, where a door opened up to the gardens. There was a faint memory when the captain of the eleventh division broke down a wall. The faces of both captain of the eleventh and tenth would continue to stay in her head for as long as she would live.

Then, her gaze turned to the vase of white and yellow daffodils on the window sill. Normally, the sixth division would keep camellias. However upon arrival she found this.

'_How ironic. Which sick person is humoring me I wonder?' _she thought irritably, not knowing that someone coughed nervously on the other side of the white screen you're reading from. Yes, you.

Her fingers lightly traced the soft petals and she frowned slightly. "I wonder whats gonna happen now." She said to herself and finally sat down on the bed. "Ichigo and the group go back to the human world tomorrow. Maybe they'll let me go to the send off?"

Her words were mainly for distraction. More than anything, her ears were listening for the familiar sounds of rustling paperwork in the middle of the night, or a random shout at a lazy vice-captain. She missed hearing the sighs from the room across from hers that signaled his exhaustion and stress from work and pressure.

"…_Tell me, Hitsugaya. Why did you join the Gotei 13? Tell me exactly why you would leave your grandmother in Rukongai."_

Yumi hugged the pillow close to her chest, the scent unfamiliar to her senses. Maybe she was being unfair. He had his reasons. She had no right to pry.

"_You don't know anything about me."_

The truth was she wanted to know. She wanted to know what made him sad. What made him annoyed? What made him happy?

Now that she thought about it, Hinamori would know, right? She knew him since childhood so there's no doubt they're close. She became a vice-captain so quickly, so she was strong unlike Yumi who tended to get saved all the time. Sure, she could hold her own against a hollow or two but experience wise…not so much. Yumi wasn't used to the blood and gore of day to day Shinigami activity. Heck, at first she was just supposed to help the tenth division with paperwork, much less dealing with her ridiculous fear of thunderstorms and blood. Honestly, how did she even manage to become a Shinigami when she had this phobia?

Even more so, Hinamori was pretty. Her warm brown eyes were innocent and childlike. The hair she kept in a bun only added to the cuteness. Compared to Yumi, who had strange violet eyes and a rather short temper when it came down to it. The fifth division fukutaicho knew when to calm down and think things through. The proof was clear. That was probably the reason why he decided so easily that she be moved to another division.

"To convince Kuchiki-Taicho so quickly, he must have had some pretty good reasons to kick me out…" Yumi hugged the pillow tighter, nails digging into the fabric.

A knock at the door made her jump up, nearly losing her balance. "W-Who is it?"

"Fifth Seat: Minami Ryuuji. May I come in?" it was a male voice. It wasn't a deep tone. It was hard to explain. In simple words, Yumi had to call it 'young'.

"Sure."

The door slid open, revealing a boy with dark red hair. It wasn't a bright color like Ichigo's or Renji's. It looked darker, like crimson. Contrary to that his eyes were light brown, like chocolate milk (1). For a fifth seat, he looked awfully young. He couldn't look older than eighteen!

'_Then again…Ukitake's third seats…' _Yumi had to unconsciously grimace at their long arguments over who took care of the captain better. Kotetsu Kiyone looks young for her age too and she was a co-third seated officer with Sentaro...

"Miyamoto-san," he greeted politely and bowed. Yumi's polite instincts kicked in and she bowed as well.

"Ah, the pleasure is all mine Minami-san! But please, call me Yumi." Silently in the back of her mind she scolded herself.

'_Damn it Yumiko! This is why people get so surprised when you go all rude and crazy once you get to know them!'_ her inner conscience rambled as her outer façade nervously avoided his curious gaze. Ryuuji stared at her strangely for a few seconds before laughing a little.

"You are an interesting girl, Miyamoto-san—"he paused and then scratched the back of his head nervously, "Erm…I mean Yumiko-san."

"Thanks I guess?" Yumi grinned sheepishly but then noticed a cart with food outside the door beside him. "What's this?"

"Oh…well." He began. Suddenly, Ryuuji's face began to get warm. "Abara-Fukutaicho told us we would get a guest from the tenth division and to take care of her. And I noticed you hadn't come down for dinner…so I thought I'd bring some up!"

Yumi was surprised at his kindness and then giggled merrily. "That's so sweet of you! Thank you so much, Minami-san."

"If I can call you Yumiko-san, can you…call me by my name too?" he slowly asked, his face heating up even more by doing so.

"Of course, Ryuuji-kun! But I warn you. I might end up making a random nickname for you if we get any closer than this!" she joked half-heartedly and then immediately berated herself again.

Yumi hadn't really expected anything more than a strange look and then the cold shoulder or a complaint. That's usually how it went.

_Usually_

"Then I'll look forward to it, Yumiko-san."

"Eh?" her violet eyes widened at his response. Ryuuji seemed so…innocent! Not even the childish kind like the loveable Hanataro that she visited every so often. No—it was more like a warm sun that she wanted to get to know and study.

For the first time since being reassigned to the sixth division she felt genuinely happy.

"Shall I bring these in? I wasn't sure what you liked so…"

"Oh, come in! We'll share okay?"

Time flew by quickly in that one room. Apparently, Ryuuji had just been appointed to the fifth seat and that was why she hadn't seen him during her regular Sixth Division Sprints to avoid paperwork.

"I was from Junrinan," he said, looking back at the memory in nostalgia. "I don't remember anything, back from when I was a boy. What I do know is that I was raised up in something like a pack of lost boys. We helped each other survive."

"Junrinan?" Yumi repeated, feeling the unfamiliar name roll on her lips.

"Yeah. Don't you know? There are a total of 80 Districts of Rukongai. The 80th is Zaraki and the 1st is Junrinan." He explained as he took a piece of paper and began to draw circles. "The worst districts are farther out. However, Junrinan was relatively peaceful. Maybe one of these days I can show you."

"Thank you. I'd like that." She smiled but then felt a yawn coming up. Ryuuji took notice and began to put the plates on the cart.

"I will take my leave for today, Yumiko-san. It truly was a pleasure to speak with you." Ryuuji bowed and began to leave. "I assume you are going to the Ryoka's send off?"

"Ah, how did you know?"

He chuckled a little, "Lucky guess. If you are, then you should get a good night's rest." As he left, Yumi looked outside and was surprised to see the sky was already dark.

"Wow… That was fast."

'_Honestly. That captain doesn't know what he's missing…' _the familiar voice of her blade spoke to her through their connection.

"There you are. Where have you been?" she asked.

'_Busy. You have no idea the amount of snow I get when you're in a lousy mood. It takes all I've got not to freeze my tail off!'_

"Snow? It snows in my inner world?"

'_Long story. Anyway, how was your conversation with '_Ryuuji-kun'_?'_

"He's nice," she answered, attempting to avoid the question.

'_Nice? You and I both know you thought he was cute! Or have you already reserved yourself for Hitsugaya?'_

"Hell no," Yumi's sour mood returned to her at the mention of his name. "Toshiro can suck it…"

'_I don't know whether or not to mention you called him by his first name or that he's such a touchy subject now!'_

Yumi sat on her bed and frowned deeply once more. "It's not that I don't understand where he's coming from. It's just that…"

"Strange," Yumi stopped abusing the pillow and stared at the ceiling. "Why would it snow there?"

'…'

"I swear, if you know something spit it out."

'_You haven't been honest with yourself at all you know.'_

The Shinigami could just imagine her zanpakto crossing her arms in front of her. To this, she couldn't help but sigh and nod meekly. "Can't fool you I guess. I mean, you are a part of me. Right?"

'_Get some sleep, young one. We'll talk in the morning.'_ She seemed to avoid the topic but Yumi was too tired to question it this time.

* * *

"_Open your eyes." _

Reisha blinked slowly, adjusting to the change of light. Or lack thereof… Her surroundings were pretty much what she expected of her inner world.

It was like stepping into one of those hedge mazes, except there was barely any color. In place of hedges were rose bushes. Reisha found herself smack dab in the middle of the thorny labyrinth with her zanpakto spirit in front of her.

It looked like a cross between a raven and a snake. The body was mainly of the latter, long with silver colored scales that glistened dangerously in the moonlight. At the tip of its tail was a sharp scythe-like weapon. Somewhere near its head, there were black wings that beat against the still silence.

"_It's been a while since you have called me. Why is that?"_ her spirits voice was sleek just like a snake. And yet the hard look in her yellow eyes clearly spoke business with the daemon.

Reisha avoided the beasts gaze and crossed her arms. "I have no reason to. That's all ya nosy sword."

Shitsunen hissed, _"Don't mock me, Adachi. I would easily strike you down now had I not the patience to deal with you all these years."_

"And I would easily call your bluff," she easily countered with a smirk, finally meeting eyes. "But that wouldn't be any fun, would it?"

"…_Forgive me, mistress."_ If snakes could sigh, this one did. _"The air has been rather…bad as of late. My instincts want so desperately to be released. It has been a while since I have had the liberty of tasting blood on my fangs."_

"The air has been bad?" Reisha raised a brow. "If I knew you were complaining about housing, I'd tell you to go speak to the builder."

"_Mistress…" _the snake sounded sympathetic but the daemon gave her a look not to continue. _"Maybe you should take a look for yourself."_ There was a momentary silence before she sighed and nodded. Anything to get her spirit to not look like that. Shitsunen nodded and spread her dark wings to wrap around the two of them. _"Then I shall show you… the deepest part of your soul that you have yet to see…"_

Then, all she could see was darkness.

"Shitsunen?" she called out. Nothing. Not even the trees made a sound. The garden was ominously quiet now. Except this wasn't the same place as before. Cobwebs were strung all over the bushes and an eerie fog rolled in. "This isn't funny you damned snake!"

"_What's not funny?"_ A small voice questioned her. Reisha turned around and let her jaw drop in mute shock. In front of her was a little girl wearing a pure white dress. Her eyes were an innocent shade of hazel and her black hair was cut short to her petite shoulders. She couldn't have been more than five or six.

"You're…" Reisha murmured, trying to regain the memory that she had locked up all those years ago.

"_Say my name,"_ the girl frowned deeply and clasped her hands in front of her chest. "_If you don't, I'll be lonely_."

"Shut up," the daemon snapped, backing away. "I don't know you!"

"_How could you say that?"_ the girl asked with genuine tears beginning to fall from her innocent face.

Don't say it

"_How could you say that you don't know me?"_

Stop it!

"_Onee-chan?"_

* * *

Filler much? Yeah, poorly thought out. Sorry, I have major testing soon. Plus I needed some sort of way of putting Yumi's thoughts. I promise the next one will at least have some action. Oh, Ichigo's in the next one, so yay!

And before readers act, yes, I put the little scene where Yumi compares herself to Hinamori. Before people get any ideas, I do not claim this idea as my own, okay? Hundreds of stories have it. So....yeah. Sorry, i'm just paranoid about stuff like this now

(1) Yeaaah...I was actually drinking chocolate milk at the time... Anyway, I wanted another way of describing it anyway so milk it is! XD Kind of weird huh? Okay, i'm off to make some more!


	5. It's that time now

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **It's that time now...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **

**Quote of the day:**

**(More like song)**

_It's the most wonderful time of the month~!_

_When there's bleeding and cramping_

_The pad's we'll be sharing_

_While it hurts so muuuuuch!_

_It's the most wonderful time of the month~!_

_-Song Usagi-chan and I made up during gym b/c…well…yeah_

* * *

"Ne, strawberry!" called out a happy brunette of a shinigami as she ran over to the orange headed ex-ryoka. Upon hearing his annoying nickname that she had given him he scowled deeply and, as the momentum brought her over to him, poked her forehead hard.

"Oi, how many times do I have to tell you squirt? It's not strawberry!" he growled. Of course it was all fun and games though. He hadn't seen her in a while either and it wasn't surprising with this whole 'invasion of soul society'. Right now, they were all at Soukyoku Hill, where the gate would soon open for the human world. His gaze then turned to the red-head walked behind her as Ichigo raised a brow. "Got a new boyfriend?"

A flush of red spread across her cheeks and she began waving her hands in front of her. "R-Ryuuji-kun isn't my boyfriend! He's just...! Gah, that's not the point! I never had a boyfriend!"

"Oh?" he teased while smirking, "Who was that short midget I saw with you before? You two seemed awfully close. What happened?"

Even the slightest mention of that 'midget' caused her blood to boil as the redness in her cheeks died away. "That was my captain. That's all."

"Eh? So what's _this_ guy doing here? The sign thingy on his arm is different..." Ichigo pointed to the insignia of the sixth division on the sleeve of Ryuuji's arm.

"I can explain," the red-head spoke up, allowing the brunette a moment with her thoughts. "She was left with the sixth division for the time being. Kurosaki Ichigo, was it?"

With his name called, he addressed the rather young looking man. He looked maybe a year or two older than himself. "Ah, yeah. Kurosaki Ichigo: Substitute Shinigami."

"Yes, Vice captain Abarai Renji said a lot about you." He smiled appraisingly as Ichigo grinned in triumph.

"So, did he talk about how I handed him his ass on a silver platter?"

"Actually, he said how undisciplined you were, as well as reckless and idiotic," Ryuuji spoke, "Albeit it was in a much more course manner."

"Of course that bastard..." Ichigo hissed and swore the next time he would see that baboon he would slaughter him.

Meanwhile, Yumi's eyes widened at her friend's almost...sadistic innocence... if that made sense.

"Miyamoto-san?"

Yumi turned and saw none other than the blue-haired quincy in front of her. "Ishida-kun!"

He clicked his glasses up and smiled as well. He couldn't help it. That girl's happiness was too contagious.

"So, you're all going back, huh..." she said slowly, a lump of sadness settling in her throat. "I'm on house arrest so I won't be able to go on any missions in the human world for a while."

"Ehh?" Inoue popped up from behind Ishida and pouted. "So we won't see you?"

"It's only temporary," Yumi let the smile return to her face. "Who knows? I might just sneak over anyway."

"Whatever. As long as you don't get me hiding you away at my place, got it?" Ichigo wagged a finger at her and Yumi stuck her tongue out teasingly.

"No guarantees!"

As the words were spoken a bright blue light enveloped the Senkai Gate. Ukitake came over to tell them that they were now able to get back to the human world now.

"Time to go, huh." Yumi frowned slightly but a large calloused hand ruffled the brown locks of her hair. She looked up and saw it was Ichigo once more.

"Don't worry, midget. At least if I have to go, I wanna see you smiling! Promise?" He held out a pinky childishly and Yumi raised a brow to the gesture.

"And you're how old?" she laughed but entwined her pinky with his. As he turned and walked out of hearing range, Rukia came over to him. Yumi half expected her to go with them, but was pleasantly surprised when she didn't. Call it selfish, but Yumi wanted an opportunity to talk with the Kuchiki more.

The blue light consumed the ex-Ryoka group as they disappeared from Seireitei. A playful grin appeared on her lips.

"None of them can control a hell butterfly, huh..."

Ryuuji shook his head, smiling as well. "I think not."

* * *

Hitsugaya stared at the smooth wooden doors. How long had he stood there with his hand hovering over the sliding panel? How long had he been figuring out reasons why or why not to go through the doors where he knew what lay ahead?

Deep breaths escaped him in a rhythm before his fingers wrapped around door and pulled it to the side. The room was freshly made. The curtains were drawn to let in the last of the evening light. The captain eyed an empty chair beside the bed and sat down, studying the frail image of the girl sleeping in the bed peacefully.

Hinamori

"The Ryoka just left this morning," he spoke to her, as if to inform her of events like she would listen. "Kuchiki Rukia decided to stay in Soul Society. I can only guess that it was to speed up her recovery. Besides, Kuchiki Byakuya won't let her out of his sight now." His tone was a little lighthearted, albeit a bit forced. His head turned towards the table beside the window, where a few get well cards and gifts were placed. In one place were two small wrapped boxes, a note each. The first was a pink peach color with a white ribbon. Hitsugaya could faintly notice the familiar writing of one of his subordinates and he walked over.

'_To Hinamori__ Momo,_

_We may not have gotten to know each other, but I still wish for you to get better. Hitsugaya-Taicho visits you nearly every day and tries to finish paperwork early for more visiting hours. Unohana scolds him I bet. Please, when you wake up, would it be too much to ask if you would smile your best for Hitsugaya-Taicho? It would mean a lot to him._

_-Miyamoto Yumiko_

_10__th__ Division'_

"Tch, that girl..." the captain rolled his eyes but then he saw the box next to it. It was blue with a green ribbon around it. The handwriting was once again similar.

'_To Hitsugaya__-Taicho,_

_I knew you'd eventually come to the fourth division anyway so... Well, you always seemed a little stressed__. Rangiku-chan told me that no one helps you out, so I got you a little something. I don't know if you'll actually like it. Ukitake and Rangiku-chan aren't very specific! Although I definitely have to visit Ukitake-Taicho since he gave me some candy. Err, that's beside the point. _

_Anyway__, I just wanted to give you a heads up. Ryuuji-kun told me to keep you 'updated' or something. It's not so bad here, even though I don't really know anyone here but Kuchiki-Taicho, and Renji-kun. They're busy most of the time though, so I'm pretty much bored out of my mind. Still, at least it's better than simply getting in the way of your duties... I just wanted to keep you posted, Taicho. This sums up my report I suppose, if it could be called that. _

_I can't really help you now__...but if you want, send some of the paperwork to me through Minami Ryuuji_

_-Yumiko' _

The line before her name was furiously scribbled out and unreadable.

Take it easy? And who the heck was this 'Ryuuji-kun'?

"Idiot..." a smirk came on his lips. Who was she kidding? With a letter like that she's practically...

Hitsugaya shook his thoughts away and took out the contents of the box. It was one of his favorite tea brands. Although it was strange coming from her.

He pondered the gift and remembered that she had asked his strange vice-captain. The captain was pleasantly surprised that she did not place any candy from the other white haired captain inside the box as well. Standing up with a small groan, he decided to go back to his division. It was getting late and he knew he left some paperwork on his desk. Hitsugaya took one last glance at his sleeping childhood friend before walking out the door.

* * *

"Yosh, Kurosaki-san! Are you sure you want to be dropped off here?" asked the ever-smiling shopkeeper.

The carrot top grinned and jumped off the 'flying carpet'. "Yeah, it'll be just fine Urahara-san! Thanks for the ride!" Ichigo ignored the cry from Urahara but ignored it. His feet landed on the soft lush grass. The grass he knew so well. He took in the smell of the cool night air mixed with the scent of the riverbed, the same one where his mother died. With a deep breath of, he let the wind take him with a single Shunpo. It seemed so long ago since he took even a glimpse of his own world. The world where everything began.

Ichigo stopped in front of his house, the Kurosaki Clinic. Feelings jumbled up in his heart began to stir and he couldn't help but smile softly.

"I'm home."

As he made his way inside, a dark shadow loomed over Karakura. The clouds rolled in and blocked the moonlight completely.

Back with Urahara and Yoruichi, they stared up at the sky with frowns. A mysterious foreboding crept upon both of them.

"Something is stirring in the air as we speak, Kisuke. And I don't like it at all." the goddess of flash spoke, still in her cat form.

"Frightful words, Yoruichi-san. All too frightful." He tipped his hat down slightly, "Let's just enjoy this relative calm for now." His eyes glanced over towards the hidden moon. Feeling eyes upon them, he turned his steely gaze towards the forest.

Like the wind, the eerie presence vanished.

* * *

A chilly wind entered Yumi's room, waking her from her fitful sleep. It was well past midnight and she cursed whoever had left her window open.

"Oh wait...that was me..." she cursed to herself and pulled the covers closer to her. The warmth didn't seem to register and she cursed again. Getting up, she pulled on her Uniform and strapped her sword on her hip. For a moment, she considered slinging it on her back like she used to but perished the thought. It would bring back too many memories.

With a silent groan, she stretched her still sleeping muscles and tried to peer through her paper screen door. The guards that permitted her leave were still there. However, they were on the verge of sleeping soundly. Yumi smirked and quietly made her way to the open window. Now she was glad that she had left it open. She wouldn't have to risk the noise of opening it once more. Yumi pulled herself onto the sill and jumped out, landing silently on the cool grass.

There was no plan, nor a reason as to why she was making such a risky move this late. If caught, she would most likely be sentenced to a cell or worse...a week with the Twelfth division captain. But something caused adrenaline to pulse through her veins. Something caused her to run to her destination: the Squad Ten Area.

When she arrived, there were no lights or any sounds other than the orchestrated song of the crickets and the dancing fireflies. It was...peaceful. Taking a deep breath of the night air, she walked closer towards one of her favorite places: The garden. As she did, however, Yumi was sad to find that the flowers she loved so much were beginning to wilt. It was no surprise seeing as summer was upon Soul Society. All good things had to come to an end eventually.

'_I wonder if he returned from the hospital.'_ She thought and unconsciously made her way inside. After being in the sixth division for a few days, the change was nostalgic. Making a turn, she stopped in front of her captain's office and placed her hand on the dark wood.

Yumi grinned sheepishly. _'It feels strange... how much I _don't_ want to open this door.' _The girl slid down to her knees and let her head rest upon its surface, letting her violet eyes close. She could spare, just a few needed moments. It didn't matter if she got in trouble for this now.

As soon as Hitsugaya got to the door of his division he felt a presence lurking. The reiatsu signature was so low that even he couldn't make it out. Either someone was skulking around his division...or some unlucky person could be dying in there. And both options were things he just wasn't in the mood to deal with. On his guard he walked through the halls to his office. Hearing a small sigh he placed his hand on the hilt of Hyourinmaru and turned the corner.

A small object, or rather person, was curled up in a ball next to his door. The person in question shifted, as if trying to get into a better position, and then resumed her slow even breaths.

Hitsugaya, albeit surprised, shook his head and smirked. _'That idiot,'_ he thought and considered bringing her inside. Remembering the last time this happened, his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. The captain went over to the girl and lightly shook her shoulder. "Oi, Miyamoto. Wake up or you'll get sick baka."

The girl muttered something quietly under her breath and then opened her eyes, "Taicho?"

He tensed unknowingly at the address she gave him but then lightly flicked her forehead. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged and stared at her knees that were pressed up against her chest. She mumbled, "Visiting,"

"Visiting." He repeated, raising a brow. She didn't say a thing, but she squirmed uncomfortably under his questioning gaze.

"Well, we can wait here in the cold all night or you could get up and come inside already." He spoke, surprisingly in a calm tone that lacked its usual authority. Yumi nodded and allowed him to help her up.

Hitsugaya then turned in the opposite direction of his office and began to walk.

"Eh? You're not going to your office?"

"I can get it tomorrow," he said. When he noticed that she wasn't following he stopped and crossed his arms. "Are you coming or not?

"...I knew this was a waste of time..." Clenching her fist, she turned her head and walked past him. "If you're just going to bring me back to the sixth division, I can go myself—"

"Whoever said I was bringing you there?"

Yumi stopped mid-step and froze. She dared not turn around to see his expression, nor did she want him to see hers. "If you're not taking me there, then...?"

She heard his footsteps behind her and finally felt his hand on her shoulder. When was the last time this happened?

"It's too late to walk all the way back to the sixth division. So," Hitsugaya lightly tugged on her shoulder so she'd turn. Without a word, he took her by the hand and began to walk. "Just this once I'll walk you home." Yumi knew the words held much more meaning than that.

_Maybe..._

"...thank you, Toshiro."

"Urusai..."

_Things can go back to the way they were_

"Miyamoto?"

"Yeah?"

His lips thinned almost in a pout. It was her signal that he was going deep in thought and she waited for his question. _'Hah...I guess I learned at least that from him.' _

"When you get mad, you don't hesitate to show it, right?"

"Yes," she drawled on. Where was he going with this?

"Captains can't do that." He spoke softly, still walking with her hand in his. "We can't allow our emotions to get the better of us or else the people who look to us for support will falter. No matter what happens, a captain must never waver. It's practically a law."

"It's a downright stupid law if you ask me," Yumi frowned and lightly squeezed his hand in support. "Yell at me if you want, but why should you hide what you're feeling?"

"I could say the same to you, Miyamoto," Hitsugaya smirked as he felt the involuntary flinch from her. It was just the reaction he expected her to give.

"W-What do you mean by that, jerk! You're the one who just said—"

"Please Miyamoto," he continued with his voice plafully haughty and self-centered. "_Anyone_ could tell that you're not feeling right at all if they read your letter. You're obviously pushing it if you think _I_ don't know you well enough to tell. Just like how I can tell when you're hitting _'that time of the month.'_"

"Why you..." her face burned red with embarrassment. "Yeah, like I can't tell when someone is only just hitting puberty. For someone a few centuries old, you're a little slow on the growth rate, runt!"

"You're shorter than me, Miyamoto. Oh kami don't start this again!"

"At least I'm going through puberty!"

"Please, go drink some milk and soak in a hot spring! Look at Matsumoto."

"Eh? What?"

"It'll take a million years for you to catch up to her. So I suggest you get a move on it."

"I'm gonna kill you!"

_Yep...things have definitely gone back to normal._

* * *

**:Omake Theatre:**

Mana: Oh bleach, why have I forsaken you so?

Hitsu: Took you long enough. What happened?

Mana: Simply some exams. I needed to bring my Bio grade up since I nearly got a D...-sweatdrop-

Hitsu: In Biology? How? Isn't it all just memorizing the terms?

Mana: Erm...I have horrible memory...

Yumi: And yet you can only be consentrated on trying to remember where you put your favorite manga book?

Mana: But...-teary eyes- my manga are my babies!

Both: ...


	6. Old Men Ramble

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Old Men Ramble!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **_Take me Back, Story of the Year_

This chapter opens a little…differently than the others. But we're finally getting somewhere!

* * *

_She ran, her breath labored and eyes trembling with fear. Blood seeped through the white cloth of her school uniform on her left shoulder. The trees moaned and creaked, furthering her desire to escape from the dark nightmare. _

_A root seemed to spring from the ground out of nowhere and the girl tripped. As she struggled to get up her knee began to sting, and she stared at the crimson fluids trickling down her leg. _

Step.

"_No…" she cried and tried crawling backwards. "Leave me alone…please!"_

Step..

Step…

"_I'm begging you…" her arms slipped and she fell again. The shadows came closer as she screamed. "NO!"_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Karakura Tribune**_ –

(xx/xx/xx)

**Mysterious Murders, Psychopath on the loose?**

_Written by: Yamada Kaoru (Editor)_

Three high school students and two adults have gone missing this past week. Most of these disappearances occur within the hours of 9:59P.M to 1:00 A.M. Of those five persons, two of them have been found murdered in a brutal fashion. The bodies of the two teens were found in the forest near Karakura High School. The victims names have not yet been revealed by the police or investigation team, who is led by Shirogane Naoi. Reasons for the string of murders are unknown, seeing as the victims had no connections at all with the exception of the students who attended the same school.

Police are trying to figure out the reason for the brutal methods of killing, seeing as the victims had no real 'enemies' or bad relations. Could this be a terrorist attack?

We are on high alert and advise citizens not to roam the streets late until the culprit is caught. If need be, go with a trusted relative or neighbor/friend.

If you have any information, please call at 0**-****-****.

* * *

Ichigo woke from a cold sweat, panting from the sheer realism from his dream. He sat up and stared at the palm of his hand to find it trembling. The clock betrayed his hope to fall back asleep by reading 1:13 A.M. His hand went to draw the curtains, expecting the eventual clouds of rain. In its place, however, was the thin crescent moon hovering over the town.

"_Stop it…please…!"_

The voices were so real in his dream…or nightmare to be more exact.

"_No…No!"_

The screams that followed the vision made him grimace despite what he had just been through recently. He was a Shinigami, a Death God. He was supposed to be used to death. He was _supposed_ to be used to the shedding of blood.

But not to that extent

Ichigo's soul badge suddenly flashed, signaling a hollow was near. The teen nearly sighed in relief. At the very least, it would help him forget those…images in his mind. A good night's hollow whacking would surely do the trick…right?

Taking the skull badge he pressed it to his chest and opened the window. The hollow was fairly close, most likely the playground by the way the badge was reacting.

The wind flew past him as he flashed stepped towards the area, landing on the sand silently. The carrot-top looked around with his hand on the hilt of his sword in search of the hollow. However…

The park was empty

"What the hell is this? Did I break it or something?" Ichigo stared at his blinking soul badge.

"No you're not mistaken, Kurosaki-san!" A male voice came from the shadows and Ichigo turned around towards the forest.

"Who's there?" he demanded, drawing Zangetsu with practiced ease. It was familiar, but the slight edge to it threw him off. "Show yourself!"

"Oh my, there's no need to be so violent, Kurosaki." A figure moved from behind a tree and stepped out into the faint moonlight. The man stepped out, garbed in his simple shopkeepers robes and wooden clogs. However the comical hat he always had on was nowhere to be seen. In its place… Ichigo's eyes widened at the male in disbelief.

Lines of crimson flowed down from his head and blood caked most of his clothes. It was hard to tell if it was his or something else's.

But what shocked him the most was the sword in his hand—or what was left of it. Benihime had shattered.

"Urahara…san?"

The shopkeeper smiled at him before passing out

* * *

"Ryuuji-kun!" Yumi ran over to the red-head and grinned. "Miss me?"

"Where were you last night, Yumiko-san?" he asked, returning the gesture as he watered the squad six gardens. "I went to your room last night and you weren't there!"

She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. "Yeah… I kinda snuck out."

"'_Kinda'_? You do know how much trouble you could have been in if you got caught!" Ryuuji frowned and put the watering can down. "You could have gotten a worse sentence than simple house arrest, Yumiko-san."

"Well…I did get caught," Yumi said, "Luckily by my Taicho—"

"Your captain? Wasn't he the one that made you sad? Wasn't he the one that—"Ryuuji seemed to catch himself as his face flushed red. His hand smacked against his face in an effort to both shut himself up and to hide his reddening face.

Yumi tilted her head curiously but then smiled easily at him. "It's alright, Ryuuji-kun. I know that I was the irrational one. Hitsugaya-kun was only doing what was best." Her hand grasped the sleeve of her uniform. "So don't worry, okay?"

"But—"

"So you're Minami Ryuuji." The white-haired captain in question suddenly appeared with his hands in his sleeves.

"H-Hitsugaya-Taicho!" the seated officer bowed quickly and backed away from the brunette. "Good day, sir!"

"Aa," he simply said but then turned his teal gaze to his subordinate. "Miyamoto."

"Nani?"

"C'mon. We're going home." He turned around and began to walk away. "Matsumoto picked your things up from the sixth division."

"What? My sentence got lifted?" she questioned and then followed him like a puppy. She completely forgot about the red-head she left behind.

* * *

"Yumi-chan!" the strawberry blonde lunged towards the unknowing girl.

The brunette's fate was sealed

"GAH!" she gasped as she felt herself being crushed beneath inhuman mountains called breasts. "Can't…breathe Rangiku-chan!"

"Oh how I missed you Yu-chan!"

"…Ran…"

"Matsumoto, you'll kill her if you keep that up you know." Hitsugaya raised a brow but couldn't help but allow the corners of his lips to curve upwards.

"Eh?" she blinked before looking at the deathly blue-faced girl in her arms. "Yu-chan what happened to you!"

"…sweet life…I knew thee well…!" the violet eyed girl spoke dramatically and fainted.

Both captain and vice looked at each other while blinking slowly.

"Well Taicho, I'll leave her to you!" she said and shoved the 'unconscious' girl into his arms.

"M-Matsumoto hold on!" but she was gone with a flash-step.

Yumi recovered from her initial shock and looked around. "Rangiku-chan left? No! Don't leave me with the moody captain!"

He twitched. "Moody?"

"Yeah, moody," Yumi pouted and crossed her arms. She went over to the couch and plopped down on the cushion. "So, care to tell me what changed your mind about me coming back?" The mood seemed to go from easy to serious and she began to regret bringing the subject up. But he sighed and sat down next to her.

"...There have been a few...incidents relating to the situation." He began to explain. "Their reiatsu signatures, the ones from the break in and at Karakura are different but only slightly. Apparently, there are other Daemons on the loose. It's hard to fully compare the signatures of Daemons and that's why the Soutaicho decided to place you in the sixth division."

"Soutaicho? It wasn't you who ordered me to be moved?" She questioned and he turned away from her.

"Why the hell would I do that?" he answered without thinking and nearly jumped at his rash answer.

"Oh?" Yumi smiled slyly and playfully bumped shoulders with him. "I knew you missed me, Hitsugaya-kun!"

Recovering, he scoffed and crossed his arms, "Who else would do the rest of the paperwork Matsumoto misses?"

Feigning hurt she gasped and placed a hand on her chest. "You're so cruel to such a cute girl like me, Taicho!"

"Cute?" he smirked at her while quirking his brow. "What part is?"

"Why, my devilishly good looks and good-mannered personality of course!" she leaned into him teasingly and smirked herself when his face began to get flustered instead of self-confident. "Don't you agree, _Hitsugaya-Taicho_?"

"You're too full of yourself…" he murmured and then frowned. Seeing this, Yumi tilted her head curiously.

"What?"

"…nothing." He shook his head and got up from the couch. Hitsugaya simply stood there for a while as if in thought and without turning to her he spoke. "Hey…"

"Hm?"

"I left some paperwork on your desk... Can you do it?" he asked casually but the key words in his sentence were, '_can you do it_.' Normally it was, 'Miyamoto, do this.' Or 'Miyamoto, I leave this to you. Get it done by the time I get back!'

Even from behind, Yumi could see his ears beginning to turn red as she giggled behind her hand.

"Oi, what's so funny!"

"Nothing, Taicho," she laughed and got up herself. "I'll get right on it. But once I'm done I demand payment this time! I've been working for you for free the whole time so _this_ time I'm putting it on your tab!"

"Tch," the white-haired captain crossed his arms indignantly. "I'm already providing you my patience for dealing with you. Isn't that enough?"

"It's okay. My first fee isn't much," she said and smiled at him once she got to the door. "Call me by my name next time!"

"Wh—"He began but Yumi bolted out of there before she could allow him to hear her laughing.

His expression was just priceless.

* * *

As he watched her fleeting back run farther away, Hitsugaya let out a sigh of relief and nearly collapsed back onto the less than comfy couch. It would be uncharacteristic of him to whine and complain about his problems so he had to expel it the best way he could without Hyourinmaru: take a nap.

It wasn't that he disliked her company. It was quite the opposite, actually. There were moments when he couldn't remember how it was _without_ the brunette. Sure, Hinamori would always visit every now and then but all it was about was a friendly chat or two between childhood friends. If not talking about the past, Hinamori would go on and on about 'Aizen-taicho this' and 'Aizen-Taicho that!' The first few times were alright, but as time went on it just pained him to listen.

When the order came from Kuchiki Byakuya and the Soutaicho, a small part of him felt relieved for the change of pace. He didn't expect the person he would protect to end up being a complete annoyance that had no regard for the rules. Nor did he expect himself to actually accept that part of her. Even if she could be stubborn, loud, and completely undisciplined, there were times where she could truly be reliable.

Hitsugaya recalled the brief meeting that the Soutaicho had called him for prior to fetching Yumi at the sixth division.

"_Soutaicho, you wished to see me?" The white-haired captain bowed his head. The captain of the first division called for him to arrive at the gardens to 'talk'._

"_Ah, Hitsugaya-Taicho." His elderly voice began. "Please, no need to bow your head now. Just a few questions I would like you ask you." He gestured to a seat near a low table which was set with tea. Hitsugaya sat and watched as the maids poured them both hot cups of fresh tea. He slowly took a few sips, still trying to guess as to what the head commander wanted. "I'm going to ask you in the simplest form possible, Hitsugaya-Taicho. Just give me your honest answer."_

_Honest answer? What was this? Surely he was trusted enough to give that kind of reply without hesitation, right?_

"_I assure you, Soutaicho," Hitsugaya spoke, "If you wish for me to give you a straight answer to a question, you don't need to ask."_

"_I suppose," Yamamoto's eyes glinted almost amusingly, but the captain took it as a figment of his imagination. "Now… Do you have any feelings for Miyamoto Yumiko?"_

_The question, so blatantly asked, nearly caused him to fall over. Still the same, he felt the air knocked out of his lungs and found himself breathless. Feelings? He hardly knew her for long! How long was it…? She had arrived like the coming of spring and already summer had arrived. Had it really only been a few months since their meeting? Hitsugaya looked back on what had happened so far and what he had seen these past few months._

_The fear from the forest on that rainy night._

_The feeling of betrayal when she left without telling him above anyone else_

_The pain he felt when her found her in the human world, broken and bleeding_

_The relief he felt when she was safe and sound_

"_I don't..._dislike_ her." He answered slowly, attempting to manage his thoughts. It felt like he was walking on a thin thread and any sudden movement would cause it to break. "She _is_ my subordinate after all, sir."_

_Yamamoto nodded and put his hand to his chin. "I suppose she is a charming young lady, isn't she Hitsugaya-Taicho? Then again, I have asked you this question once before. [1 (Chapter 11 of WYLM)]" _

_The situation had once again been similar as the young captain cursed to himself. Why was it that whenever anyone asked him so bluntly about his relationship with her he would freeze? Considering he was the wielder of the strongest ice zanpakto, it was a bit daunting to say the least… The young captain could only nod slowly in silent agreement. _

"_If you do agree, then there is something I must warn you of, Hitsugaya-Taicho…" Yamamoto finally had the tone of all seriousness in his voice. "If you are to cultivate this relationship further, then the Soul Society may have to interfere. Is that clear?" Hitsugaya's brows furrowed in confusion. Interfere? Even if there was the slim chance, there was no reason to possibly think a relationship between two Shinigami a threat to the Soul Society. _

"_Yes Soutaicho… But…"_

"_Miyamoto Yumiko is an interesting child," Yamamoto interrupted cryptically and took a sip of tea. "Would you like to hear a secret?"_

"…" _the captain remained quiet as the elder took it as a sign to continue._

"_Miyamoto Yumiko never graduated from the acadamy." Hitsugaya's eyes widened. "Well… That wouldn't be accurate at all I suppose. Indeed, she did attend for a short period of time. In the reports I gave you, it said her reiryuuku was unable to form any form of kido. Any other information was left out." True, he recalled looking at her information file and couldn't find a thing. Nothing was recorded in the libraries and there was no evidence that she attended the academy other than her recruitment into his squad. "After further analysis from data collected when Miyamoto Yumiko went to the real world, Kurotsuchi-Taicho made a hypothesis… Fukutaicho of the sixth division was wounded by a reiatsu-based weapon. However, the damage was equivilant to that of a sword wound. No such demon art known has been able to make such an injury."_

_Hitsugaya frowned. "So what you're saying is that Miyamoto Yumiko's initiation into my squad was more than just a protection order?"_

_A maid came in, holding a manila package and placed it on the table. The tea was taken away so that all was left was the simple item. "Hitsugaya-Taicho. Enclosed is all the information we have recovered from Miyamoto Yumiko. If you take this, you will understand what measures we must take." Yamamoto gestured for him to take it and as his hand touched the paper he continued, "However if you do indeed look at the contents, you will be separated from her indefinitely." _

_The tanned hand twitched_

_Yamamoto raised a brow. "So…which will you choose? Knowledge over need? Or are you content with simply protecting something you know nothing about?"_

_The young captain clenched his fist and stood up abruptly. "Soutaicho, I thank you for the opportunity but I decline. I do not have the need nor wish to even consider removing my subordinate from my care. If you'll excuse me." He bowed quickly and was escorted out of the first division. _

At the memory, his face contorted into something akinned to disbelief. Had he really acted that way! For his behavior he could have been demoted! Or worse, he could have been removed from his squad entirely!

Was this girl seriously worth it?

"This girl is going to be the death of me," he sighed and closed his eyes. A rueful smirk crept onto his face regardless. What else is new?

* * *

Matsumoto blinked uncomprehendingly at the scene unfolding before her eyes. Through all her years of being a part of the Gotei 13, she never saw something so horrible or grotesque. It defied everything she had learned throughout her lifetime as a Shinigami.

Miyamoto Yumiko was humming **_happily_ **while doing paperwork

"Ne, Yu-chan!" Matsumoto whined and began her attempt to pull her away from her desk. "What are you doing?"

"Paperwork, can't you tell?" she grinned, not taking her eyes off the white parchment. The caligraphy pen danced as the work was quickly signed and read through. The wordless tune still escaped her lips, fueling her happy-go-lucky mood.

The strawberry blonde frowned and began flipping through the finished papers. She wouldn't say it, but she wasn't surprised when she saw her like this. Ever since her captain almost _begged_ the soutaicho to return her to the tenth division, both of their moods have lifted. It was a nice change to the dark, gloomy, and boring day-to-day basis of all work and no play!

A hell butterfly fluttered through the open window and landed on Yumi's nose, causing her to make a face and drop her pen onto the wood desk. "Gah, stupid bugs always land on my face!"

Matsumoto giggled, "They probably think you're cute!" the vice captain held her finger out as the butterfly landed on the tip softly. As the message was relayed, Matsumoto acted as a speaker.

"Message to Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro, Vice-captain Matsumoto Rangiku, and Miyamoto Yumiko. You have a new assignment..." she paused as her icy blue eyes widened. "You are to investigate the human world under circumstances that Hollow activity has become unusual. Please report to the thirteenth division when ready."

The black butterfly quickly went out the window as the two girls had only one thing in mind.

"_VACATION!"_

* * *

**Blooper scene:**

"Where were you last night, Yumiko-san?" he asked, returning the gesture as he watered the squad six gardens. "I went to your room last night and you weren't there!"

Yumi narrowed her eyes skeptically and crossed her arms. "Stalker much?"

* * *

**I'm so sorry guys! I haven't been updating like I should be! Anyway, summer started up again so i'll hopefully get a few more chapters out before it ends once again. The next few chapters I hate to say...will be fillers. But if you review, i'll get the fillers more interesting to get the plot rolling! C'mon, at least three? That's an easy number, right? If I get three or more, the next chapter will come out quick. If I get at least three and it's not out within three days, then may the gods of ramen smite me! XD**

**Questions:**

**Ichigo felt something going wrong and then found Urahara near beaten to a bloody pulp! What could have beaten him so?**

**Soutaicho once again asked Hitsugaya about his relationship with Yumi. What could this foretell?**

**Apparently, Yumi never graduated from the academy. But to get your zanpakto and be a part of the gotei 13, it's mandantory that you pass. How is this possible?**

**Feel free to answer one, some, or even all the questions posted! Trust me, it makes all the difference!**

**And just to give a little hint...this isn't exactly how the chapter might sound...but it's rough:**

"Oi, did you really think you were going to leave without us?"

"I bet when he picked you up in the human world, you probably thought, _'_He's so sweet! It's so unlike him to pick me up bridal style!_' _...or something like that!"

"If you remember, I said Aeon was making their move."

"How does it feel to be loved so much?"


	7. Blending into Society

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Blending into society

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **_Blame it on the Pop_

* * *

While it didn't take long to get there, it took longer to 'get ready' for Matsumoto. At least for the younger girl, she had less to bring. The busty Fukutaicho just had to go all out shopping for make-up and hair products before departure. After the whole wait, Ukitake-Taicho couldn't brief them on the full information!

"So apparently..." Hitsugaya began, his brows furrowed as the senkai gate began to open. "We'll have to be debriefed at Former Captain Urahara Kisuke's store in the human world."

Yumi smiled sheepishly. "Hey, it could be worse!"

"Like how?"

"Like—"

"Oi, did you really think you were going to leave without us?" a familiar voice called out as all three of them jumped. Appearing with what looked like a shunpo was both Reisha and Archer...and maybe about ten people from the stealth force as their escorts...

"R-Reisha!" Yumi cried out in shock. Archer frowned, feigning hurt.

"What? You say her name first? Who's the one that saved your ass?" he complained and made a step forward when a blade was lightly pressed against his neck.

The man holding the weapon glared. "No moving, scum, or I'll cut you where you stand."

"Stand down," Hitsugaya spoke. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Soutaicho has given them a chance to show their 'loyalty' to their word. In exchange for their assistance, we won't execute them." He explained and then pointed to their necks. It was only then that she noticed some kind of black ring around their necks. "Should they go against orders..."

"You don't need to explain it," The captain interrupted, giving a side glance to Yumi. "I have it covered. Thank you." The stealth force all bowed and disappeared.

Matsumoto pouted for a bit but then clapped her hands. "Well, shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's." Yumi sighed and continued towards the Senkai gate. Archer and Reisha followed obediently after the captain as the light engulfed them.

It was like a light had gone out once Yumi passed through. The gate was always like that though: dark, gloomy, and utterly gross. Luckily, both Daemon's had practice with controlling hell butterflies somehow, so the currents didn't activate and the cleaners didn't sweep through.

Yumi glanced at the black 'collars', as she would put them, with concern. Her captain stopped the man from explaining but she could easily guess what he would say.

"Yumi,"

His voice made her jump as she turned to him.

Archer grinned and sent her a thumbs up. "What's wrong? You look down!"

"N-Nothing, Archer... I'm just glad you guys were able to get out safely." She lied.

He studied her and tilted his head. "What went and killed your mood?" She remained silent, staring at the black collar around his neck once more as her answer. He shrugged and lightly hit her head with his knuckle. "I think you have bigger things to worry about, kiddo." As he said that, he pointed to her captain in front. A deep crimson spread across her face as she scowled at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" he joked, "I bet when he picked you up in the human world, you probably thought, _'_He's so sweet! It's so unlike him to pick me up bridal style!_' _...or something like that!"

"Idiot!" she punched him hard in the arm as he winced. Hearing the sounds of protest, Hitsugaya turned around with his arms crossed in his sleeves.

"Hurry up! We don't have all day!"

Reisha raised a brow and smirked, leaning in to Yumi's ear. "Is the Chibi-Taicho always this crabby?"

"OI!"

Yumi nodded her head. "Pretty much."

The light in the tunnel began to get brighter and brighter, signaling the end of the road. As they left the gate, they found themselves in front of Urahara Shoten. It was evening then, and most of the students attending school were making their way back home.

"Man, it's been a while since I've been back here!" Archer stretched and sighed in relief. "I want some milk now."

"How old are you?" Reisha asked but then pouted. "Actually, don't answer that. So where's that shopkeeper?"

The doors to the store opened, revealing a very small girl with black pigtails. She stared at the newcomers for a few seconds and then turned back around. "Jinta-kun... Yu-chan is back."

"Ehhh!" the loud obnoxious voice pricked at Yumi's ears. The red-head literally slid out the door and pointed at the brunette. "Heh! So, are you ready to taste defeat once more!"

A vein popped on her forehead and she shook her fist at him. "What did you say, you brat! I went easy on you that time!"

"...Can we just go in?" Hitsugaya sighed and then began to make his way to the door, ignoring the lightning flashing between Jinta and his subordinate. Surprisingly, the shopkeeper was nowhere to be found. So the one that greeted him ended up to be Tessai.

"I heard of your orders from Soul Society." He clicked his glasses as they settled down at a small table. "Unfortunately, the shopkeeper is unable to—"

"It's alright!" the familiar voice sang out from the other side of the door. It slid open, revealing the man nicknamed hat-and-clogs. However, he looked like a wreck. His head actually lacked the signature hat, which was replaced with bandages. They also wrapped around his torso, but some blood actually managed to seep through the once white linens. "Nice to meet you, Hitsugaya-Taicho. I am the humble shopkeeper to this wonderful candy store!" He turned to Yumi and snapped his fan out. "It's been a while, ne Miyamoto-san?"

She blinked for a second and then took out a random rubber band and shot it right in his eyes.

"Ara!" he winced and allowed the tears to buikd up. "You're so mean!"

"I promised myself I would smack you the next time I would see you." She curled her fist and grinned wickedly. "So you better have a good reason for doing that to Rukia-chan because I'll beat you dead!"

Urahara flinched and bowed his head in something akin to shame. "...Mi—"

"...is what I want to say." She interrupted him as his head snapped back up once more. Yumi nodded her head and looked at him seriously. "But I'm sure you had your reasons... But you have to apologize to her!" He allowed a smile and tipped his hat.

"You truly are like Kurosaki, Miyamoto-san~!"

Hitsugaya coughed as the group was led back into the first topic. "So... Can we get briefed on the mission?"

"Ah, yes! Well, as you all know... There have been a few incidences relating to hollow activity. However, that's not all. There's movement within Karakura and I believe it has something to do with these two appearing before Miyamoto-san recently." He gestured to the two Daemons bickering with each other. "Soul Society is unsure as to what their main objective is...so they decided to bring a team in for investigation."

"Wait a sec..." Yumi frowned and stroked her chin thoughtfully. "You're saying that Reisha and Archer finding me almost at the same time was no coincidence?" She turned to the two of them suspiciously. Reisha turned away while Archer looked down while fidgeting. "Arch..."

"I'm sorry, kid." He began and sighed. "It wasn't."

"If you remember, I said Aeon was making their move." Reisha spoke, still not making eye-contact with anyone but the wall.

"Aeon?" Hitsugaya questioned. "I was never informed of this, _Miyamoto_." He glared at her as she shifted a few inches away from the frosty captain. "Continue."

"Aeon is a society made up of Daemons. It was at first a haven for those surviving Daemon's from the War of the Demon's Fall. However, it became corrupt easily due to our rather...instable leader." She explained easily, shrugging as if she was talking about the weather.

"I deserted a while back and since then I've been tracked down...just like you, Yumi." Archer said and lightly touched her hand. He ignored the icy glare in the back of his head.

"What a second, wait a second!" the young girl pulled her hand away. "How... How did you know about me back then? That was the first time I even met you! Sure, I met Reisha before...also I'd rather not remember that..."

The female Damon smirked, "Not my fault you didn't know which end of your sword was which at the academy."

"I can't believe you completely messed up my graduation ceremony, damn it!" she complained as the two bickered. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya frowned. He was just told that she never completed her time at the academy. But here, she's talking about it as if it was clear as day. His eyes turned to Urahara's demanding an explanation but was answered with a shrug.

"Anyway...here is your task!" the shopkeeper caught everyone's attention. "You'll be acting undercover as normal students! Your vice-captain can attend school as well if she wants to."

"Wait...but isn't it a bit late in the year? School doesn't start back up until another month!" Archer raised a brow. "Plus, these two entering at the same time _and_ acting together? Isn't that a bit suspicious?"

"Of course not! They'll have a cover story so it will be settled without a hitch!" Urahara smiled wide. Both Yumi and Hitsugaya had a dreadful feeling of foreboding and it took Yumi to ask.

"...What will we be undercover as...?"

His fan snapped open with large letters that spelled out:

**SIBLINGS**

"..."

"...Do you wanna pummel him first?"

"No, you go ahead first."

"Thank you."

* * *

-One Month Later-

"Alright class!" the teacher announced during free period as the students continued to talk. "Class…" she smiled sweetly but the noise continued. "**OI YOU STUPID KIDS! LISTEN TO ME AND SHUT UP!**"

Cricket…cricket…

"Thank you!" she giggled cutely as the class shuddered at their strange homeroom teacher. "We have two new students joining us today… Please come in!"

The door opened as all eyes turned to the small figure coming in. It was a girl of short stature, maybe 4'9 or 5 at most. Her hair was chocolate brown and cut at her shoulder blades. She looked very nervous as her emerald green eyes looked down at the floor in discomfort.

"Now, introduce yourself!" The girl remained quiet in hesitation. The teacher grinned even wider. "I said…_introduce yourself_…"

"Hitsugaya Yukina," she finally spoke and shifted uncomfortably. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"

"Erm…do I have to?" the girl asked and frowned pleadingly at her teacher, who just stared at her with her brow raised. The new student sighed in defeat and turned to the class again. "I'm currently fifteen years old and I just recently moved to Karakura from Inaba." And thus, the inevitable 'gossip' had begun.

"Eh? Inaba? That boring place?"

"Look at her eyes! Are those contacts?"

"Tch, she better not get any ideas. I'm not getting pushed off my pedestal just because she has a pretty face! HAH!"

The teacher hushed them once again and allowed the second person to come in. If one had to describe the different between a man and a god, they would probably use this specimen as the latter example. His hair was pure white, which brought out the tan of his skin. Like the girl, he had emerald eyes but they were sharp and calculating. Although he seemed short, he was still taller than the girl by standing about 5'1 or 5'2.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." The boy spoke, not needed an intro from the now swooning teacher. An even greater burst of gossip exploded from the class. Most of the girls were either blushing, swooning, had nose-bleeds, or all of the above. The guys had looks of envy, respect, shock, and...erm... Well, an expression more far-gone than mere admiration...

After recovering, their teacher coughed. "Anyway. Hitsugaya Yukina can sit behind Seito-kun in the back." A brown-haired boy with glasses raised his hand as the girl seemed to rush to her seat. She never payed attention to where her companion would be sitting.

As class began, Seito continuously looked behind him with a curious expression on his face.

"Hey, are your eyes really green?"

Twitch...

"Why did you come to Karakura, huh?"

Twitch...!

"Is that guy your cousin or something? He looks like he's in a gang!"

Twitch!

'_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING'_

Some of the girls screamed in fright, holding their skirts down. Most of the guys nearly fell over. Whatever the reason, a quick wind rushed through the classroom to the door. Seito then noticed that Hitsugaya Yukina was gone.

* * *

There he sat, a figure of perfection, right on the roof of Karakura High School. The metal door slammed open to reveal an out of breath brunette. He paid no heed and continued to play with his cell phone.

"Well?"

"'WELL'!" She repeated and stomped straight to him. Fury burned in her emerald orbs. "Not even a day in that class and i've been interrogated by some kid that believes aliens exist and are trying to take over the world! Did I forget to mention he thinks me as a prime subject? The girls keep asking me what my relationship to you is too! God, I already have hate letters!"

"Calm down, Miyamoto." Hitsugaya said and _still_ didn't look at her. "We're only staying until we solve this case. So it would be best if we solved it quick, wouldn't you agree?"

Yumi rolled her eyes. "Oh sure. Easy for you to say. Everyone pretty much loves you. I think you captured the hearts of nearly all the schools female population and made more than half the males gay." He had to twitch at that. "The teachers love you for your smarts and every sports club wants you on their team!" She laughed mockingly and put a hand to her temple. "Isn't it great being Mr. Perfect on your first day?"

The cell phone snapped shut harshly and he locked eyes with her. The familiar dangerous glint was in his eyes and she had to stop herself quickly. He was in 'Fierce Dragon Mode level 2' as she called it. There were about five levels to it, each varying in amounts of seriousness and terror. Hitsugaya studied her for a few seconds before sighing and standing up.

"Come Miyamoto."

"Eh? What?"

"There's some hollow nearby. We'll skip today." With ease, he jumped over the fence that surrounded the roof and stood at the edge of the building.

"...you're seriously pissed at me aren't you?"

"No," he answered and then turned back at her with a smirk that didn't reach his cold eyes. "But I will be if you don't hurry up."

* * *

The weeks passed by tortuously slow. Even from the reports that there was suspicious activity in the human world, nothing really seemed out of the ordinary for the Shinigami that were brought in to investigate. The only thing that seemed to be 'suspicious' were the new kids that would hang out together all too closely; especially at lunch or free period.

"Ne, ne, Yukina-chama!" called a happy-go-lucky red head. Her name was Fukuyama Eiko, a student in the same year as Yumi. The first few days, she was one of the people that noticed her discomfort and offered her a hand. Needless to say, her cheery attitude did not go unnoticed by Yumi. They got along quick and she became her first high school 'girlfriend.' She and a couple of others were eating outside on the grass during lunch break. "How come you're always disappearing with your brother?"

"Yes, I find it a very interesting subject." Another girl calmly spoke as she sipped a cup of tea. This one was Ushiba Ruriko. She was one year ahead of the other two. She carefully placed to strands of her long black hair behind her ear. "What do you think, Fumiko?"

Her twin sister giggled and took large portion of rice into her mouth. She always was the more…boyish of the two of them. Although they were twins, Fumiko only looked like a middle schooler at most with her baby face. "Yeah, ish vry shuhspishous!" Rice grains spilled over her cheeks and one managed to land on Yumi's nose. The girl crinkled her nose and frowned.

"Fu-chan," Yumi whined and wiped away the grains on her friends face with her napkin. "No talking with your mouth full." She took extra care with Fumiko. She may be older (Although you can't beat the years that stack on as a Shinigami), but Fumiko seemed to act like the little sister Yumi always wanted.

"Don't change the subject!" Eiko nudged the brunette beside her with a sly look on her face. "Ne, ne…don't tell me you…you like Toshiro-kun?"

If she had been eating at the time, Yumi might have gagged.

"E-E-EIKO-CHAN!" Her cheeked burned alight with a blazing red. Although, it wasn't for an attraction. Just the other night, they had gotten into an argument about how tomboyish she was. Jeez, her captain really had to always bring up her chest…or lack thereof.

Ruriko placed a hand over her lips. To any bystander, to may have looked like she was merely covering a yawn. But to the circle of friends, they could see the corner of her lips curving upwards in a smile. A smile that Yumi didn't like one bit.

"You have to admit… It kinda fits." Fumiko put a finger to her lips in thought. "You're always hanging around him."

"But we're siblings. Of course we're gonna hang around each other."

"Yeah, but even though we're in the same grade, even onee-san isn't with me all the time!" Fumiko added as Yumi began to panic. Would they find out that they aren't really brother and sister?

'_No way…that's Impossible! Just bluff your way out…'_ she thought and began thinking up an excuse.

"W-Well, I…erm…" she mumbled, pushing her fingers together nervously. What could she say? She's clingy? They wouldn't believe that! Erm…he owes her cash! No…on what? She let out a deep sigh of defeat.

"So it's true! You're both secretly dating although society looks down upon it! So romantic!" Eiko said dreamily. She always had a sweetspot for romantic novels. When she couldn't find a good book, she would rely on the internet. Something about a thing called 'fanfiction' or whatnot. Whatever…

"No! We're uh… We're not related by blood!" Yumi said quickly as the three sent her strange looks. "Our…dad died and mom remarried. But both of them passed away a few years back."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Yuki-nee." Fumiko frowned and placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Although she felt bad about lying to her friends, she felt utterly warm at their sincerity. "We didn't know…"

"Yeah…s'okay. We're just close because of that! Nothing else!"

"You sure?" Eiko stared suspiciously as Yumi began to sweat.

"Erm…"

"Do you at least have someone you're interested in?"

"I…uh!" her face began to get warm from all the personal questions as her mind reeled into overdrive. Was there anyone she _really_ liked?

"I think the problem is solved, girls." Ruriko sighed and stood up abruptly. "Come on girls. Time to go give her time to think."

"Ri-chan…" Yumi whispered and the other girls glared. The raven haired beauty simple winked and pointed behind the brunette. They grinned as well and quickly packed their things. Before sprinting, Eiko whispered in Yumi's ear.

"Y'know…we won't tell so go ahead and have a little fun!"

As they ran, Yumi looked behind her to see a handsome boy walking over with a smirk on his face. Amusement danced in his golden eyes as he stopped in front of the undercover student.

"Hey, Miss Hitsugaya Yukina," Archer greeted with a mock bow as she frowned. There was only one reason why he would come out in the open at school like this.

"Did they start to move?"

"Yeah." The smile was gone from his face now, replaced by a grim frown. "Get your 'brother' to hightail it outta there. It's gonna get messy from now on."

* * *

Just wanted to say. I'm gonna be on vacation for a week, so...yeah. Wahh, no one reviewed. -sad face- But I shall prevail and continue to write! NOTHING SHALL STOP ME! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Well...except for the summer reading I still gotta do...

...hey, don't stare like that! I'm almost done!

...with the first part...-sigh-

No omake b/c i'm uploading this at 1:22am and I gotta wake up at 6am


	8. Killing the Mood

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Killing the Mood

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **Kimi ga Tame (By Suara)

**Quote of the Chapter:**

Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired. (Ahhh, how true...)

I never thought I'd be saying this...but I miss the action parts and I so badly wanna write a fight scene...But in a couple more chapters I will. Maybe 2 or three...hehehe. Wait no, maybe i'll write a little action next chappy...

* * *

"The cultural festival!" exclaimed Yumi as Archer nodded. They all decided to meet up at Urahara Shoten for this brief meeting.

"It's the easiest way for them to get to us without soul society relaxed. Yumi frowned in confusion at the reason.

"But if Soul Society was at ease, wouldn't it be easier for Aeon?"

Hitsugaya, understanding the situation, put a thoughtful expression on. "Soul Society would have to spread out their guards throughout the festival… Security would be thin around the perimeter. And if they're experts at hiding their reiatsu like Adachi says, then we're in trouble."

"Exactly as the chibi says," Reisha smirked and ignored the death glare from the shinigami. "Daemons from Aeon are all experts at hiding their reiatsu to near nonexistant levels. They also have the appearance of normal humans and can easily adapt to wherever they're assigned. Only other Daemons can have an easy time finding another. Shinigami have to go by sight. Too bad for you Yuki-ouji."

Even with her predicament of her 'death collar' as she so proudly stated, she wasn't afraid to find degrading nicknames for the tenth division captain. Some of them even Yumi wouldn't try. It hurt her a little that he would only get furious at her whenever she would call him names while he let Reisha off the hook with a glare. A familiar pang hit her chest hard as she unconsciously put her hand there. Willing the strange feeling away, she consentrated on the problem at hand.

"So what do you propose we do then?" Yumi asked.

"We'll go in groups, each paired with us. Reisha will be with Yumi and I'll go with the squirt!" Archer grinned at his own nickname for the frosty captain. However, everyone must have felt the temperature of the room grow considerably colder…

"No," Hitsugaya crossed his arms and shook his head. "I'll go with Adachi. Sayomi will go with Miyamoto."

Yumi looked at him in shock. "Hitsugaya-kun?"

"That's the end of that. The festival is in two weeks time. Now, if you'll excuse me. Adachi, I have to talk to you." He gestured for the female Daemon to follow. She simply shrugged and did so. Once both of them left, Yumi couldn't help but let her shoulders slump.

Archer raised a brow. "What killed you?"

"Nothing…" she answered half-heartedly.

"Kid, I'll eat six bullets from my gun if that's true." He said and put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Wanna talk?"

Yumi stared at the black collar around his neck unintentionally and sighed. "Don't tell my taicho or Reisha about this, okay?" he simply nodded and she took a breath in. "Hitsugaya never gets mad at Reisha when she calls him names… My nicknames for him aren't even that bad and he yells at me! Not only that, but he…"

"'He'?"

"…he wanted to pair up with Reisha…" Yumi frowned, cursing her own childishness. But what was wrong with going with Archer? She didn't mind going with Reisha at all! Maybe her captain just didn't like the male Daemon? He was likeable enough, wasn't he?

The golden-eyed gunslinger went silent for a moment before standing up and walking towards the door. "I'll go talk with Reisha about it and you'll talk about it with your captain, alright?"

"Wh—wait-…HUH!" Yumi was about to stop but but he simply smiled and went out. Within seconds, a small body was thrown out of the room and landed ungracefully on his backside.

"SAYOMI!"

"Go talk with the princess, will ya?" Archer grinned and shut the door, locking it in the process. There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

"Erm…"

"…"

"Well, uhm…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"Will you say something!" Yumi shouted and he scowled.

"'Say something'! I was going through some important matters when that guy just throws me out saying we needed to talk!" he growled. "So what in the name of kami must we talk about!"

"Oh, so talking with Reisha is more important than going through some things with your own subordinate!"

"What is there to talk about, Miyamoto? We have our orders so follow them!"

Yumi stood up abruptly and glared daggers at her captain. "Fine. I'll follow your orders. But I'm not doing it because you're giving them…" and she left the room in a huff. Hitsugaya let out a grunt as he fell back to lay down. He sighed tiredly and put an arm over his eyes.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, what are you doing?"

* * *

Archer shut the door quietly as he entered the room. Reisha didn't look at him. She simply stared at the ceiling from her position on the floor. He sat down beside her and heaved a deep sigh.

"Go away, stray. You're killing the mood with your gloomyness." She said once she finally looked at him. Archer sent her a pained smile.

"I could say the same to you." Archer retorted. Reisha grunted a reply. There was silence for a bit but it was welcome. But someone had to break it.

"What do you think he's up to?" it was the gunner.

The scythe master shrugged and continued glaring holes into the ceiling. "Dunno. It sounds fishy to me. He even helped us in Soul Society a bit." She remembered the small orb she received back then and unconsciously let her eyes flicker to her pack resting on the wall. Archer took a glimpse at the fellow Daemon and nearly let out a yelp when he saw the expression on her face. It wasn't a smirk or a smug grin. There was a soft smile on her lips, as if she was remembering a happy dream. "The guy always was an idiot. Before at least."

There was a welcome silence as the two remembered the happy times in the past, although there was precious little of that.

Archer coughed. "What do you make of last night?" Reisha sat up from her laying position and had a grim expression. No more was the once in a lifetime expression on her face.

"Who knows? Maybe he's helping, maybe he's not." She stretched a little and then smirked smugly. "And maybe we'll get lucky enough to experience both."

Last night was the reason for their meeting after school. Apparently, a certain Daemon had gifted them with a nightly visit (Not that the frosty captain would know.)

_The moon was gone, hidden behind the thick clouds of the night. As the two Daemons slept, a presence became known from the moon peeked slightly through the breaks of the clouds. Reisha and Archer stirred by the familiar presence and took great care not to wake the brunette Shinigami that shared their apartment room. Carefully, the two snuck out and rushed to the road outside. A figure was leaning on a tree with their arms crossed. It looked like a normal human, save for the shocking silver eyes and midnight blue hair. _

"_Dai…" Archer breathed as the figure chuckled._

"_Yep. It's me Arch." He stepped out of the shadows and into the street now illuminated by the crescent moon. He began to make a move into his pocket when the other two reached for their weapons. Daichi had to laugh a bit and pulled out what was in his pocket. "Try not to get hurt by my flimsy piece of paper."_

_The two paused and then returned their weapons to their proper places. Daicho grinned and gave the paper to Archer. _

"_What in the devil is this?"_

"_It's a map of the vicinity," he explained easily. "Karakura High is holding a festival 'here'," he pointed to a large park nearby a shrine. "Normally these festivals would be held closer to the school, but it's a big thing this year. It's the last festival before the fall. I hear the taiyake is great there!"_

"_So…you're giving us a map…to go to a festival…" Reisha spoke skeptically, confused at the other Daemon's point._

_The silver-eyed boy nodded cheerfully. "Yup! How else am I supposed to tell you that Aeon's gonna start attacking?"_

"_What!" Archer exclaimed as Daichi made a sign for silence._

"_Yeah. It's exactly as you say. So be on the lookout. Watch out for the kid too. She'll need all the protection you can give." He turned to make his leave when Archer grabbed his wrist._

"_Wait," he began and tightened his grip slightly. "Daichi… Whose side are you even on?"_

_The Daemon was silent for a moment before answering. "If you must know, then stay alive until the day we see battle once again, Arch." He turned to regard the Reisha, who had not spoken a word since she laid eyes on him. _

"_Hey Rai." She nearly jumped at the name and frowned deeply. Daichi sent her a soft smile, albeit it held much more than that. He walked towards her. At first, Archer thought he was going to talk with her personally, but his 'brother' simply passed her while whispering something softly to her. Her eyes widened considerably before narrowing down towards the ground. At this, Daichi smirked and disappeared in a flash._

"_What did he say?" Archer asked after a brief silence. Reisha said nothing as she made her way back into the apartment complex._

"_Nothing." She spoke softly, like a whisper. "Nothing at all."_

* * *

"Why don't we do a maid café?" piped up one girl as she excitedly jumped up from her seat. Some of the girls started gossiping in agreement. Some didn't.

"How would we get supplies for the food and uniforms? Besides, the class across is doing a date café. Doing one would be pointless."

"How about a wrestling tournament!" one of the guys offered. Most of the males made sounds of approval but backed down once they were met with the furious gazes of the female populice of the class.

Yumiko sighed deeply and distractedly stared out the window. Ever since her little spat with her captain added to the anxiety of the cultural festival, she just wasn't up for faking her cheeriness. Besides, it wasn't like she had a reputation to keep up. She was still 'the new kid' to these humans. It wasn't like she was one of them.

'_boink'_

"Eh?" Yumi blinked out of her thoughts and saw Seito staring at her curiously. _Someone_ had thrown a small ping pong ball at her head to knock her out of her daze. "Hitsugaya-san. It's you're turn to give an idea!"

"Ah, really? Sorry," she mumbled and quickly tried to think up something. From the corner of her eye, she saw a book by Shakespeare on Seito's desk. Yumi began to panic. "Err…book…?"

"'Book'?" most of the class stared at her blankly as she hid her reddening face in her arms.

"How about a class play?"

Everyone turned to the owner of the voice, who ended up being one of the girls Yumi noticed when first coming to Karakura High. If memory served, she was the one blabbering on about 'pushing her off a pedastal'. For one, that would hurt, wouldn't it? These humans were so strange…

"That sounds like fun!"

"Really? Can there be fighting!"

"Ooh, I want to do costume designing!"

"Count me in! I'll find a play we can do!"

The girl that answered turned her dark eyes at Yumi with a wide smile on her lips. However, it held as much warmth as her captain had in his zanpakto. The girls hand went to flip her curled black locks in a way that must have been practiced for hours in front of a mirror.

Now, Yumi was an easy person to get along with. She had an open attitude and didn't mind being a little on the honest side. She had no idea that commenting the fact that this raven-haired beauty's 'panties' (If that small piece of floss was even considered…) were quite indecent. Out of concern, she had even asked if it was even comfortable, much to the enjoyment of the listeners on that day. Ever since then, this girl had gone to great lengths to make Yumi squirm in her seat. This time would be no different.

"_Yukina-chan_," she seemed to pur. "Since you were so kind as to give the basic idea of doing a play, you can handle the planning of the whole event right?"

In response, Yumi grinned brightly and nodded.

"Hells no."

The classroom fell quiet as an ominous cloud fell over the crowd. Even the teacher, who was just innocently reading a text book (Which curiously had the most recent volume of Shonen jump inside), peered over the edge curiously.

No one dared to defy the _daughter_ of the vice-principal before. Morioka Tomoe had her father on a string and could give many 'valid' reasons as to why a student should be expelled.

"Excuse me, Yuki—"

"Oh, excuse me for being so blunt. I apologise," Yumi frowned in a mock concerned manner. "What I meant to say was: 'I'm sorry but I'm just not up to it if it's just me doing the planning.'"

"Well that could be arranged." The teacher snapped her manga—erm, book, shut and smiled. "Both Hitsugaya Yukina and Morioka Tomoe can work on the managing of the event. Now, _everyone _will pitch in is that clear?"

"Yes, sensei!"

The two girls smiled at each other. Tomoe made the first move by extending her well-manicured hand.

"Pleasure to be working with you."

Yumi grasped it, ignoring the hard squeeze, and spoke behind gritted teeth.

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine."

* * *

"Y'know, glaring holes at the paper won't get anything done, Miyamoto." A voice spoke as they read the morning newspaper once more. "If anything, your face will stay that way."

"Oh, I'm sure you would know, right?" she retorted playfully, earning an annoyed stare in her direction.

He huffed and wisely ignored her bribe for another banter.

"Sayami wants to go over the plans for the festival. I already went over it with Adachi." Hitsugaya snapped the paper shut. He took a quick glance at the large amounts of paperwork spread across the table in the apartment room she stayed in. "You do know we're not supposed to get involved with human activity, right?"

Yumi huffed ingidnantly. "Well, it's not like I wanted to do this! But you know sensei! She's could probably be a hollow in disguise for all we know! She fits the description enough…"

"For one, she does not have a white mask nor the craving for human souls. Added to that, her spiritual energy is literally non-existant."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about that," she grinned and filed away another piece of paperwork. "I was talking about her sadistic behavior towards students and suspicious activities that include spying on the cosplaying anime club whilst drooling, as if she hadn't eaten anything in days."

"Point taken and ignored."

"Darn…"

"Miyamoto…"

"Yes?"

"…Have fun doing all that," he said before leaving the room, also escaping from the hard textbook that hit the door on his way out.

"That…!That bastard!" And those were the least colorful of the words that came after.

"I hope you're not talking about me." Yet another voice cut in, their voice sarcastic and almost…playful?

In response, Yumi rolled her eyes. "Oh, of course not Reisha. Who could possibly call you a bastard?"

"Watch it, kid." She hissed and smacked her lightly upside the head. "Even though I got this damn collar on, it just means I can't do things while I'm being watched. And it looks like your 'guardian angel' isn't around at the moment."

"'Guardian angel'! Phft!" the Shinigami girl chuckled and put her pen down. "All he cares about his getting this mission done as quickly as possible so he can get back to finding Aizen."

"Ah, for that 'Momo' girl, eh?"

The brunette's eyes widened and she quickly grabbed the elder daemons shirt. "You know Hinamori?"

"Met her. Spoke with her. 'Freaking saved the idiots life." She listed a bit while counting on the tips of her fingers. "You forgot about the Ryoka break in already? I knew your brain was horribly messed up but seriously?"

"Shut it…" she barked back and let the grip on Reisha's shirt ease. "But I guess I should…thank you…"

"Eh? For what?"

"Helping Hinamori. She's really important to Hitsugaya-kun." Yumi grinned and sat down on the couch. "So… Th—"

"Ah whatever," Reisha cut her off rudely and smirked at her reddening face. "It's not like I intended it to happen anyways. Plus, you won't wanna be thanking me in a couple of minutes…" She trailed off, drinking in Yumi's confused expression.

"Why?"

"You remember when you were training with the Prissy Stray back in Uruhara's shop? …Oh don't give me that look. Sure I wasn't there but I sure as hell know the signs your predicament."

"Predicament?"

She sighed impatiently and went over to the brunette, poking her in the forehead in the process. "You hear an annoying voice there, don't you?" Yumi's eyes widened. No one knew of the strange voice she heard when she was in a bind. The last time she remembered hearing it was before she arrived at the office of fourty-six. It had 'helped' her in terms of speed, but between the intervals of allowing it to help she had no memory. Even when training with Archer, she couldn't remember anything of her battle with the claimed 'Black Cat' of Aeon. And even after that, he looked like he got the crap beaten out of him! "A voice that taunts you. It tells you that you need its help and are as defenseless as a newborn baby without it."

"I…"

"Jeez, I know you're a bit slow but learn to say more than one word. It's a little pathetic." Reisha teased and then gestured for her to follow. "I'm going to teach you how to tap into that power without losing yourself…again."

"Again?" Yumi frowned but followed the daemon. She hesitated before getting through the door though. "Reisha… The truth. Why are you helping me?"

She smirked, but Yumi could almost sense something else in those eyes that matched her own. The mysterious amethyst eyes that were so unnatural stared back at her like a mirror.

"Maybe so next time I won't have to worry about having to kill you so quickly," Reisha proceeded down, most likely towards Urahara's shop. "This way, when I _do_ decide to continue the hunt, I'll get at least a bit more fun out of it."

* * *

Thought I forgot about that? Think again. Hehe

**Question time!**

**1. Daichi helps Reisha and Archer once again by telling them Aeon's plans. To what purpose or gain could he have?**

**2. Why do you think Reisha wants to help Yumi control her 'inner voice'? And how does she even know about that?**

**3. Yumi is distressed about her captain picking Reisha to partner up with him. What can Archer do to cheer his 'princess' up? (I might actually pick an idea and credit the person…cuz I'm out of ideas…-sweatdrop-)**

**4. Why the heck is Toshiro putting up with Reisha's insults! **

Please answer by my favorite word: _**REVIEW**_

**_It makes me write the next chappy FASTER and LONGER!_**


	9. Training Buddy

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Training Buddy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **In the arms of an Angel/ UltraNUMB

**Review Comments for previous chapter:**

Bloodangel95 / Megan: Thanks so much for the review! Yeah, sometimes when I write the chapters I end up cussing at my own characters for the things I make them do, XD. I hope you like this chapter! Hopefully i'll be able to continue this story for readers like you that enjoy it!

* * *

Training with an experienced warrior can definitely be daunting. Now training with a sadistic one? Good luck.

"H-hey watch it!" Yumi ducked from the clean sweep of a sword to her head. Slowly, brown stands of hair floated down in front of her eyes.

"No, you watch it!" Reisha smirked and continued with the onslaught of blows. It was only day two of their training but Yumi was exhausted. With this on top of the festival planning, she cursed her luck. With her sword up horizontally, Yumi managed to block the heavy blow of Reisha's own katana. Metal clashed as sparks flew in the air.

Yumi couldn't help but smile grimly. "Still think you'll get any fun out of beating me to a pulp?"

"At this rate, no. If I had released Shitsunen you would have died hours ago." Reisha said simply and took in the pleasure of seeing her student's despair.

"Well, at least it was hours and not just the first day," the Shinigami added lightly but grunted when Reisha send a hard kick to her side as it sent her flying to the left.

The daemon chuckled and thrust her sword point down into the dirt. "Nah. My damn sword was just feeling a bit lazy that day so you just got lucky. On the other hand…" she tapped a finger on her smiling lips in thought. "If I _did _release her, you might actually consider doing what this whole training session is for: control!"

The Shinigami winced at the harsh tone and frowned. "I can't!"

"Yes you can you damned coward!" she barked and fired a quick restraining spell. Yumi's arms were pulled behind her back and a collar appeared around her neck. On the back of the collar, a cord connected itself to cuffs on her wrists. The material holding her was purple and seemed to glow with energy… Yes, it was something entirely made up of reiryoku.

"What the heck is this?"

"It's similar to the restraints people on death row wore, ain't it?" Reisha spoke while enjoying the scene of Yumi trying to keep balance. Her sword clattered to the floor a few feet away from her. Yumi struggled against the strong bindings. There was a way to break out of kido, right? She recalled a long time ago that Reisha had broken out of her own binding spell and tried to try it on her own. However, this restraint felt…

"Strange?" the Daemon finished for her, earning an annoyed glare from the Shinigami. "That's because it's not kido. We Daemons call it _Arceo_."

"'_Arceo_'?" Yumi repeated in confusion.

"It's latin for 'close'. Most Daemon abilities are in latin or greek, as well as their releases for their weapons." Reisha explained and sat down on a nearby boulder, purposely ignoring the still standing Yumi.

"But then how come yours is in japanese like a Shinigami?" Yumi asked but then stumbled. She huffed in annoyance. "And why am I still tied up! And why are you the only one that gets to sit?"

Reisha hesitated for a few seconds before smirking and pointing a finger at her. "Oh, you want down?" Yumi nodded, all too aware of her wobbly legs from the hours of training. The Daemon sent a spark of energy in her direction as a coil of reiryoku bound itself around her ankles. Yumi let out a sharp yelp and fell over in the dirt. "There. You're down."

Yumi spit out the dirt that managed to snake its way from her lips to her mouth. "Pft! Reisha!" a whine escaped her throat and she tried to escape. "C'mon, you're supposed to be helping me! Not antagonizing me!"

"Hm, I don't see how I can't do both at the same time!" Reisha laughed and then stood up. "Alright. Lesson one: break out of that. No time limit! Take as long as you need!…that is if you don't care about being late at that damned human festival." The daemon smirked and began walking to the exit of the training grounds, waving behind her as she did.

Yumi glared and swore that as soon as she got out of there, Reisha would wish for protection in hell because that would be the only thing saving her.

* * *

"Ne, ne, Hitsugaya-kun!"

"Look over here! Please?"

"Hey, what's your size? I need it for the play!"

"Toshiro-kun! Help me with lines!"

He twitched his eye for maybe the hundredth time that day. Hoards of girls were flocking to him from god knows where. And he was pretty sure that that some of the girls there weren't even from Karakura High (considering they wore Sailor Uniforms)… The white haired captain had to resort to reading a book to keep himself from freezing the classroom. He swore that the next girl that spoke to him would get a nasty surprise…

"HITSUGAYA TOSHIRO!"

Said-captain snapped the book shut and stared down the person who dared challenge his patience. He caught sight of short auburn hair and the fierce pair of dark brown eyes. It was Eiko, one of his subordinates human friends. He raised a brow irritably and near growled.

"What?"

"Where is your sister!" she demanded, slamming her hands on his desk. He was slightly surprised at her actions. He thought of her as a less physical type of person. "She won't answer her phone and I can't find her anywhere!"

Hitsugaya had to admit that thought passed his mind before. Yesterday, she didn't return from wherever she was going. When he asked those daemons, they would claim not to know anything…although Adachi was being a bit smug…

He could feel her reiatsu somewhat nearby, so that was something at least. However, it seemed almost masked. The thought of going out to search for her crossed his mind.

'Tch…she can take care of herself,' he thought but then paused. '…I'm not worried. I'm not worried. I'm not worried.'

"Hitsugaya-san?"

"Sorry, Fukuyama-san, but I have no idea—"

"You don't know where your own sister is?" she asked incredulously. Then, she strangely enough smacked her hand to her forehead. "Oh my god we really were stupid. How could we think that?"

"Think what?"

"That you two were in a secret relationship!"

The white haired captain's eyes widened and if this was a manga, he might have fallen out of his seat. But that's not the case. There was no way his life would be dictated by some mangaka with an obsession with drawing that stuff…right?

Instead, his jaw dropped and it took a few seconds to recover. "What?"

"Oh, don't worry. Yuki-chama already told me the story! It must have been hard to deal with your family. Were you lonely?" Eiko asked softly.

"Lonely?" What cover story did she make up now? Ugh, he'd have to play along. "Well, not really…I guess I couldn't think about that kind of things at the time." He thought back to when he had to leave his grandmother in Rukongai and frowned. He also remembered the pain when Hinamori left for the academy to eventually meet that bastard Aizen.

Eiko studied him a bit and shrugged in defeat. "Well, at least you were strong for Yuki-chama. I'm sorry for being so rude…It's just that…no, you'll think I'm a weirdo so, c'ya!" When she turned, Hitsugaya made a gesture to stop.

"Wait…What do you mean?"

"Errm…well. I was worried because I… I can't feel Yukina anymore."

"…feel?"

"Oh god no! Not like that! I have my eyes set out on a certain someone else!" she blushed and seemed to look somewhere in the classroom (Which he ignored. He was just glad it wasn't directed at him). Eiko shook her head quickly and then focused back on him. "It's hard to explain. But it's like I can feel if someone is nearby or something. It's kinda weird actually. Tatsuki says she can do the same thing with Orihime but I don't know."

'Fukuyama can sense other people's reiatsu? Interesting… I'll have to keep a close eye on her.' He thought but hid his intentions by closing his eyes.

"Well, anyway… She's probably playing hookie and gorging herself on food. Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if I saw her come out of a store eating Takoyaki while humming a stupid tune." He then concentrated on his book but frowned when he saw the strange look on his classmates face. "What?"

"Hitsugaya-kun…are you feeling okay?"

"What? Can I not read in peace?" his irritation was finally beginning to show once more.

She shook his head and sent him a skeptical look. "You and your sister are close and all, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"…Yukina-chan _hates_ takoyaki…"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened and he looked down at the floor in silent shock. Now that he thought about it, how much about that girl did he know? Her name, a few things she's scared of, and what? Her obsession with ramen and some snacks? He figured she was the type to just enjoy whatever food she was given.

"Y'know, Yuki-chama talks about you quite a bit." Eiko pulled an extra chair up next to his desk and rested her elbows there before folding her hands. "Wanna know what she says?"

"No," he answered simply in an attempt to hint that: 'Okay, can I just not talk to you now?'

Eiko ignored him. "She says, 'he's so bossy and stuck up! He won't tell me anything I wanna know and won't listen to what I say!' And more things but I doubt you'd wanna hear about your sister cursing you for the rest of your life." His emerald eyes narrowed and the auburn haired girl giggled. "She'll talks about your secret love with watermelons and your hate for lazy people. She'll also complain about how you overwork yourself and calls herself stupid for worrying."

Hitsugaya's ears pricked up at the next sentence and studied Eiko, who's eyes softened considerably. It was almost as if she was thinking about someone else.

"Yukina knows that you work hard. Maybe too hard sometimes. You care about people enough to keep your distance so you don't hurt them. She also said something about wanting to get stronger so that you wouldn't consider her annoying or a burdon…" the red-head sighed but then grinned slyly. "Now do you understand why we thought you two had a thing going on?"

"Tch, how tactless." He rose from his seat and tossed his bag over his shoulder.

"Eh? Where are you going Hitsugaya-sama?" Eiko batted her long lashes cutely but the catlike grin was still there.

"To go find an idiot and bring her back." He replied as he walked out of the classroom. Eiko sighed dreamily. What she wouldn't give for a guy like that…too bad. He was such a nice catch.

"Erm…Fukuyama-san?" called a small voice as she turned to see the nervous guy she was eyeing earlier. "D-Do you want to join me for l-lunch today?"

She giggled and beamed brightly at the brown-haired bookworm.

"Sure! Let me just get my stuff and we'll go to that nice bakery across the school, okay Seito-kun?"

* * *

"Ngh…" Yumi groaned as all her muscles strained from being stuck in that restraint for so long. Using brute strength was out of the question since she didn't have much to begin with. Her kido skills might have been worse. Back at the academy, she had the worst grades that were even possible…

'Come to think of it…' Yumi thought as she fruitlessly tried to break the bindings on her. 'How was I able to do Kido all those other times? Like in the weird forest or when fighting Reisha?' She tried thinking back but was immediately interrupted by a shot of pain through her stiff muscles.

"Forget it…this thing goes first," she grunted and tried to use her reiatsu to break it again. For a brief second, she felt the binds give and weaken, but it reverted back to its normal strength if not stronger. Yumi winced.

'This freaking lesson isn't working!' she noted glumly. Now…what did Reisha say on her latest visit?

"Idiot! You're doing it wrong! Don't 'break' the spell! Just cut it! It'll be easier!"

"Cut it? How the heck am I supposed to do that?" Yumi growled. Her sword was kicked away earlier! How else could she cut it!

_'**Remember…'**_

"Eh?" the shinigami blinked and she turned her head to the sides. She heard a distant voice, but no one was here. There weren't any nearby spiritual signatures either.

_'**Remember how you fought.'**_

"How I…fought?"

_'**Remember how you survived! Concentrate!'**_

"Concentrate…on what?" her violet eyes closed, attempting to focus on something not there. Unconsciously, she fell into a different part of her spiritual world. In the pitch darkness behind her eyes a small spark became known. Yumi tried to hone in on it and found a small white orb of highly condensed energy. As she got closer to it, she felt a creeping heat begin to spread from her chest. The glowing white mass of energy flickered and suddenly shot out a beam of light that lightly grazed her cheek. The surface of the orb began to bubble out of control the closer she got to it.

Yumi heard Reisha's voice from the back of her mind.

"…_you might actually consider doing what this whole training session is for: control!"_

'_**Tch. You're scared, aren't you?'**_The voice was considerably closer this time. Yumi swiftly turned around to see a girl that looked almost identical to her. The only difference was that her hair was a few shades darker and her eyes were a yellowish amber. Although the figure was staring straight at her, Yumi couldn't see her reflection at all in those empty eyes. The girl was clothed in a similar shinigami garb, except it mainly white with a red sash and inner robe. The long ends of the sash danced behind her as if an imaginary wind was picking it up.

"You're the one I saw…back during the survival exam." Yumi murmured in surprise. "…are you the voice I heard in Soul Society? The one that lent me their power?"

'_**Scared of losing yourself…and you're scared of finding yourself…'**_the girl ignored her previous questions and took steps towards the red orb that was fluctuating out of control. It shot out another beam towards her shoulder but she did nothing to defend against it. It halted centimeters away from her robes and the bubbling ceased momentarily. The girl continued forward towards the orb with ease and then touched the ball with her hands. The surface once more solidified but turned blue instead of white. She regarded Yumi again. This time, her amber eyes were alight with anger. _**'Forget that fear! Cast it aside!'**_The girl shouted and Yumi flinched. _**'If you don't, your soul won't be able to handle the strain any longer!'**_

"I can't…"

'_**If you refuse to accept it, then die!'**_she yelled and pointed a finger at Yumi. A blue beam shot out and impaled itself into her chest.

* * *

'Where is she? Where the hell could she be at a time like this?' he thought as he continued running throughout the places she usually went on her patrols. She wasn't at the park, nor was she back at the apartment he just burst into. Only Archer was there.

"Sayomi, where's Miyamoto?" he demanded, ignoring the fact that Archer was clad in only simple black boxers and a towel around his neck.

"Yumi? She's training with Reisha, isn't she?" The daemon blinked in confusion as he rubbed the white towel on his damp hair. "She didn't tell you? She's been there for quite a while too."

"No, she didn't tell me..." the white haired captain growled and clenched his fist tightly. "Where is Adachi?"

"Uh, underneath Urahara's shop if not by the hill," as soon as those words left his lips, the captain was gone. Archer whistled and grabbed his pants. "I almost feel bad for Reisha." After a short thought, the man shrugged and went to the kitchen for some milk while humming a playful tune. "Wait, no I don't."

Hitsugaya didn't know how fast he was going. He didn't notice that he had unconsciously popped in soul candy so that he could shunpo over to the shop faster.

Upon arrival, he ignored the bubbly shopkeeper who was recently healed by Inoue and rushed down into the underground training ground. The unmistakable wave of Yumi's reiatsu hit him at full force and he refused to grimace at the heaviness of it. Was this really her? He followed the trail to a far end of the training grounds to see a cloud of dust rolling around one area. In the middle was her spirit energy but he couldn't exactly pinpoint her location. It was almost like it was storm of invisible vines or something.

There was a straining shout that rung out and he involuntarily took a step back. "What the heck are you doing, Miyamoto?"

* * *

_Plip_

_Plip.._

_Plip…_

Blood dripped down onto the floor of the black space. The sound of it landing echoed in the silence.

Embedded deep in her abdomin was the blue beam of condensed energy. Yumi coughed and shakily wrapped her hands around the weapon.

_**'Hurts, right?' **_she asked. _**'This attacks your spiritual body and disrupts the flow of reiryoku. You could have learned this but you're too stubborn.' **_

Yumi felt a shock course through her body as she nearly fell to her knees. Her willpower was all that was keeping her up. She continued to try in vain to remove the energy rod from the right side of her chest. It caught her below her ribcage, making it hard to breathe.

'_**See what happens when you hesitate? You idiot…'**_ the girl sighed in disappointment and made a movement to pull the weapon out. _**'And here I thought trying to protect you up to this point would change anything. You're still that same stupid girl. Still like Kurai.'**_ However, she was met with a weak tug that held it in place. _**'Eh?'**_

"Who's this 'Kurai'...huh? Saying I'm like that." Yumi murmured quietly. Her eyes were hidden under the shadows of her bangs. The grip on the energy spear tightened. "And it's true that I was scared. Scared of getting hurt. I refused to rely on this power because I didn't want to injure anyone anymore. I wanted to stop fighting…" Yumi finally looked up and her counterpart was surprised to see neither fear nor hesitation anymore. "But…"

She remembered what happened back in the human world when Archer was being attacked by Reisha. She felt so useless then! All she could do was watch him get hurt.

There was even the time in Soul Society when her captain was fighting Ichimaru. He looked so furious then, like he could kill with a glance. Matsumoto had told her that when she grasped his sword with her bare hands, she looked calm. In reality, Yumi was terrified out of her wits facing her enraged captain.

"Compared to the pain they felt...how _I_felt...when I couldn't do anything..." With a sudden burst of reiatsu, the weapon shattered and Yumi shot forward, aiming towards her counterpart. "This is nothing!"

Not expecting the sudden turn of the battlefield, the girl readied herself into attack position. But what surprised her the most was that Yumi simply passed her and went straight for the orb. As her palm landed upon the blue surface, the last thing she saw was it turning into a brilliant red before everything faded to white.

* * *

When the dust cloud dispersed, Hitsugaya saw her familiar figure swaying slightly. It was her reiatsu alright, but something felt different now. He ignored the sensation and quickly flash-stepped to her side before the brunette collapsed to the hard ground.

"O-Oi!" somehow, the captain managed to catch her and slowly settled her down. "Miyamoto you idiot! What were you doing?"

She grimaced a bit but chuckled softly to herself. "Training, what else?"

Hitsugaya took in her slightly cut up and bruised body with disdain. The most recent injuries were found on her wrists and neck, which were red and bloody from what looked like cuffs and some sort of sharp edge. Without a word, he hooked his arm underneath her legs while still supporting her back and somehow slung her on his shoulder.

"Gah! What are you doing?"

"Carrying you—what else?" he answered simply and began walking. One arm hooked around her legs while the other held her back so she wouldn't fall.

"No! Put me down! Now!" she demanded and pounded on his back.

"No," was his reply. "I'm not going to until I'm sure you're not going to go missing again."

Yumi bit her bottom lip in frustration.

"Why…?"

Hitsugaya walked towards the exit. Her hands fisted his haori and she lowered her head.

"You stubborn, idiot…" she whispered with her voice shaking.

'_**Hey, bear with it. You'll be stuck with him for a while—like me!'**_

Yumi felt a tingle in the back of her head as she heard that voice. Inwardly she groaned and opted to roll her eyes.

'More voices in my head. Peachy.'

'_**Heh, wait til you really turn crazy. That will be fun to watch.'**_

'Please don't tell me you're gonna be as annoying as Reisha?'

'_**No guarentees!'**_

"Ugh…"

"What was that, Miyamoto?" asked her captain.

"Nothing, Taicho. So, can you put me down now?"

The captain huffed and ignored her the rest of the trip. To make it home faster, he flash-stepped out and practically threw her on the couch.

"Ouch! What was that for?" she asked as her muscles ached. He simply disappeared for a while. She heard the distant sound of the tub filling and a few faint curses. Hitsugaya then returned with a blue towel and a bundle of clothing. Yumi raised a brow in question but he threw the things at her (Which managed to hit her square in the face). "HEY!"

"Bath. _Now_."

Yumi sighed and slowly got up. As she passed him, she said a quiet 'thank you' and rushed into the bathroom. The tub was almost full so she turned the valve off. After setting the clothes down, she slowly began untying her uniform. It was tattered and dirty now so she wondered what she would do now. 'Hm, maybe Urahara has an extra?'

Once she was stripped bare of the unappealing uniform, she slowly eased herself into the warm water. Her muscles began to slowly relax as she let out a grateful sigh of bliss. Yumi began to scrub away the dirt and grime off her skin and hair when she attempted to recall her last conversation with that girl…

_Her counterpart was grinning at her proudly._

'**So, you've made your decision then?'**

"_Yes," Yumi smiled tiredly as she gingerly cradled the red orb in her arms. "So, what does this mean for you?"_

'**If you need me, I'll help…'**_ she drawled a bit. _**'But if you waver in the path you choose once more, I won't hesitate to kill you this time.'**

"_I've been meaning to ask for a while now," Yumi frowned deeply. "What are you? You're not a hollow. You're not part of my zanpakto either."_

'…**You remember the time Archer trained with you, don't you?'**

"_Not really. It's all a blur…" The Shinigami shut her eyes in frustration. "But what does that have to do with it?"_

_Her counterpart sighed deeply._**'Essentially, that and I are the same. I **_**do**_** have the ability to take over whenever I want. However right now you can choose who takes control: you or your other self. I won't sugarcoat it. It is a part of you. it **_**is**_** you. The faster you realize that, the easier it will be able to take when it all comes back to you.'**

"…_You're really not going to tell me anything, are you?"_

'**Nope. Oh, gotta run. Your knight in shining armor is coming!'**

Yumi sighed. This was getting too confusing. She was pretty sure that no other Shinigami had multiple voices in their heads or an organization after their head. Heck, it was confusing enough in the beginning with her bad memory. Yumi did remember hearing reports of how she was found-unconscious and wounded in the middle of the road of Rukongai with nothing but the clothes on her back and her sword. Even when she woke up, she was like a husk: unable to speak or react to anything around her. It wasn't until she was fully recovered did she start getting her senses back.

Her violet eyes closed and she let hald her head sink underwater. What was going to happen now? Maybe soon she would finally find out why she needed to be watched. She recalled her counterparts words for a moment.

_'...you're scared of losing yourself...and you're scared of finding yourself...'_

"Urgh! Whatever!" she suddenly yelled out in frustration.

"Miyamoto, what the heck are you talking to yourself about?"

"Nothing!" she called back. She hoped she was right.

* * *

"Yukina-chan!"

"Yuki-chama!"

"Are you alright?"

"Hey, I heard you ran away from home!"

"I thought she just decided to skip?"

A small crowd of classmates surrounded her desk and she smiled uncomfortably. She was still unused to school life so this amount of people asking about her was daunting. Back in Soul Society, you practically knew everyone in your squad and nearby ones. Here, there were many unfamiliar faces that seemingly knew her.

Ruriko clapped her hands loudly. "Everyone break it up! If you have question for her, don't bombard her all at once."

Her twin Fumiko tried pushing her classmates back. "C'mon! Move!"

The crowd seemed to part like the red sea when Fumiko shouted. At first, she was shocked at her level of control over the class, but she immediately considered it false when she saw a slim figure walking down the created path.

Tomoe strolled up to Yumi's desk as she smiled sweetly at her.

"Where have you been, Yukina-chan?" she asked innocently. "Little me had to do most of the work while you were gone!"

"Hey, we did—"

"Shut up!" she snapped at the now cowering students that spoke up. Tomoe turned back to Yumi and got close up in her face. Her dark eyes were burning with spite. "Now listen here and listen well. I will not stand for a lazy unproductive student shirking her responsibilities. Do I make myself clear?"

"C-Crystal." Yumi stammered as she was forced to stare into her dark eyes. Sure, she had been yelled at and even had things trying to kill her. But this was pure hate. Why was Tomoe so against her? She didn't do anything to deserve that kind of disdain from her, right?

"Calm down, calm down… Sheesh! Is that how the vice-principal's daughter is supposed to act?" Eiko stood up to the taller female. Her green eyes stared Tomoe's dark brown eyes in defiance.

"Fukuyama-chan, I was simply letting Yukina-chan know that she has to pick up the slack!" Tomoe smiled and turned on her heel. "On that same note, Fukuyama-chan. That vice-principal wishes to speak with you after school about 'you-know-what'."

Eiko's face immediately paled and the crowd murmured among themselves. Yumi and Ruriko shooed them away and checked on their friend. She was still staring at the spot Tomoe was moment before and her face was still as white as a sheet.

"Eiko-chan?" Yumi asked and she put a hand on her shoulder. The redhead flinched. "Are you okay?"

She forced a nervous smile at both of them. "Yes, I'm fine. Yukina-chama, Ri-chan, I think I need to be alone for a bit…" Apologetically, she shrugged Yumi's hand off her shoulder and slowly walked out the classroom.

* * *

_**Omake Theatre**_

Mana: Whoa, its been 2 months since I last updated? Sorry guys!

Yumi: I rather liked the break

Mana: You did but the readers didn't!

Hitsu: Their loss since they're stuck with you

Mana: Wah! So mean!

Hitsu: Well, if you would just get to the action already I wouldn't be this 'mean'

Yumi: Toshiro, you just want to kick some daemon butt, don't you?

Hitsu: I-I do not!

Yumi: Let's see...when's the last time Taicho actually got some action?

Hitsu: ...The story before this one...

Yumi/Mana: -legasp-!

Mana: No helping it. next up, Hitsu will most likely get some 'action'. Whether it's fighting or fanservice, we'll find out next time on Kyrie Eleison!

Hitsu: O-Oi! Don't act like this is a TV show!

* * *

**Question Time:**

**Yumi has attained a new power, but at what cost? What could possibly go wrong now? **

**Tomoe apparently has something up to get so angry at Yumi. What could this mean for our heroine?**

**Eiko is struck by Tomoe's words. What could the problem be?**

**Our favorite white haired captain wants some action! Should we give it to him? XD**

**Btw, any name ideas for Yumi's 'counterpart'?**

**Please answer in your reviews! They keep Hitsugaya sane enough to work with me!**


	10. Detective

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Detective

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol. I wanna see the fourth movie!

**Listening to: **Song from a Secret Garden / Romeo and Cinderella (Nico Chorus. Listen to it! It's awesome!)

Heehee…Do I sense development? However...OOCness...-sad face-

I put a small story at the end cuz I was bored...

* * *

**Day 4: 10 days before Festival**

"_I'm sorry, I can nay stay longer." She said desperately and tried pulling away from his grip. But his hold was firm and true. His emerald eyes locked onto her dark brown ones._

"_At least tell me your name?"_

"_I'm…no, I'm sorry but I must go!" she finally ripped herself away from his hands and attempted to run off._

"Aaaaand cut!" Called Yumi aloud as the two actors stared at her in annoyance.

"Yukina-chan, why did you cut the scene?" asked Tomoe. Hitsugaya merely sighed and sat back down in his seat, grateful that the torture was over...for now.

Yumi raised a brow. "For one, we've been doing this scene over and over again so I think it's someone else's turn to practice. The understudies are important in case something happens. Two, we need your sizes for Cinderella's dress and Romeo's costume."

For their class play, someone had written a script called: Romeo and Cinderella. Of course, the 'populars' of the class were Tomoe and Hitsugaya. Heck, Yumi wasn't surprised that Tomoe 'kindly' asked her to be her maid.

"Ooh, Toshiro-kun! Can I get your sizes?"

"No, let me do it!"

"My mom is a seamstress so I'll do it!"

Girls crowded around her desk and Yumi could barely make out his head of white hair. At this rate, she knew they would get a taste of his dragon fury so she attempted to break it up. After much pushing, she managed to get to him and grabbed his wrist.

"Oi! Back up! Hey Toshiro!" he looked at her in surprise for a moment. "I'll be the one to take your sizes. I pretty much know them kinda since I'm your sis, ne?" His tanned cheeks might have turned pink for a second, but Yumi figured it was a figment of her imagination and ignored it.

She pulled him out of the classroom and entered the science room across the hall. Since school was over, the classroom was deserted (seeing as the school is notoriously known for its low science grades). Yumi quickly shut the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally we're rid of those fangirls!" she smiled.

"Acting heroic there, Miyamoto?" he raised a brow. "By the way, your grip is like iron. Do you mind?" Yumi blinked before looking down at their hands to find her still holding his wrist. Her face flushed red but she then frowned slightly and her eyes became half lidded.

"Oh, do I have to let go?"

Even Yumi could feel his body tense and almost jump up. He stared at her in surprise with his mouth open.

"Miyamoto…?"

Yumi then grinned widely. "Hehe, just kidding!" she let go of his wrist and took off the cloth measuring tape from around her neck. "Well, might as well start measuring. Can you take your shirt off?"

"You know I can just—"

"Look. From here you have two options: you take your shirt off or I throw you to the fantasizing girls in the next door room." Yumi turned around to get a notebook out of her bag. Hitsugaya sighed and proceeded to unbutton his shirt. He had another one under anyway. When she faced him again he saw her hesitate before stepping forward. At this, he had to act a bit smug.

"What? Nervous?"

"Tch, you've been around those girls too much. It's not like I haven't seen you without a shirt before." She answered quickly and wrapped the measuring tape around the base of his neck. At the memory of that crazy day, she shook her head violently. "Now hold still…"

At this close proximity, the wheels in his mind began turning. Now what? He had been thinking all day on what Eiko told him. So now what? Would he say, "Hey, I don't know you very well. What's your favorite color, food, and places?"

'Urgh, that sounded so stupid… Think Hitsugaya think…'

Meanwhile, Yumi tried to ignore the tickling sensation of his breath on the top of her head. 'When did he get this tall? The top of my head only meets his nose now. Before, we were practically the same height! Urgh!' She shook her head and pulled away to write down the set of numbers. "Arms up." His tanned arms lifted and she wrapped the tape around his upper chest. With this, Yumi was even closer than before. Her finger slipped for a second but she regained hold of the tape.

Once again, she removed the tape and jot down the numbers.

"Y'know…you're kinda quiet. Anything bothering you?" Yumi asked as she proceeded to measure his waistline.

"…Can I ask you something?"

Yumi laughed a little. "You just did. But alright. What's killing you?"

"Erm… What interests you?"

She raised a brow ever so similar to his. "Did Rangiku put you up to this or Archer?"

"Shut up!" he scoffed and looked away. She could have sworn she saw a slight hint of pink on his tanned cheeks. "I mean…we've known each other for a while now and we barely know anything about the other." He explained without making eye contact with her. He couldn't believe he was letting up his pride just to know more about her. "Tch…never mind."

"…quiet places." She answered simply and once again wrote down a size. "Done. I refuse to do your inseam! Make Archer or Ichigo do it."

"Kurosaki? Yeah right!" he scoffed and pulled his shirt back on. "Anyway, I figured you'd be the type to enjoy company…"

"What's your best stress reliever?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You started it."

"That's hardly a reason, Miyamoto."

Yumi wagged her finger in front of him. "Nope! Call me by my name. Remember? We're at school, Toshiro!"

"There isn't anyone here!" he protested. "And didn't you ask me this a million times? I am not calling you by your name, Miyamoto. It's—it's not—"

"Ah! Yu-mi-ko!"

"No, it's 'Yukina', idiot."

"See? You're already on the right track. Practice makes perfect!" Yumi began packing up her things and pulled her sweater on. "C'mon, Toshiro!" As she ran out, he watched her retreating form and frowned. Something was wrong…very wrong. He was supposed to say something but he was silent. It took him a while to realize that he didn't correct her this time. It took him a while to realize that he rather liked her calling him by his name.

"Hm, maybe I _should_ start practicing…" he mumbled, a pink hue adorning his face once more. He put a hand to his face and groaned. "God that sounded so stupid…"

* * *

The cruel crack of the ruler slapping against the table caused her to flinch. When her eyes tentatively opened, she was met with the same scene. Her angry father was pacing near his desk. Occasionally he would stare at her and then continue pacing.

"Daddy, I-I'm sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Tomoe!" he snapped as she winced. He sighed deeply and finally opted to sit down in his large leather chair. He took off his glasses to rest his tired brown eyes and began cleaning the lenses. Afterwards, he ran his fingers through his slicked back black hair. "Look…funds are lacking right now. These students don't know the meaning of student _loans _and _deadlines_. Either I get that money by the end of the week or they're kicked out!"

"I understand, daddy…" she mumbled fearfully and slowly began to inch away from him. When she managed to touch the door handle, he spoke up again.

"That Fukuyama Eiko… She hasn't given a payment in a while, correct?"

"Yes. She came by here, remember?"

"Yes, I believe she did…" he hummed in thought as a dark grin spread across his face. "Perhaps we should make an example of her?"

"How so?" asked Tomoe. She tried to mimic his sly tone but putting up with him was beginning to irk her greatly.

"Rough her up a bit. Take some of the counsel girls and play. Alright? When you're done, feel free to speak with your mother."

Her dark eyes brightened considerably and she smiled. "I can see her?"

"Yes, yes, now go before I change my mind!" he waved her off dismissively. She rushed out of the room as he smirked. Both files of the recent transfer students were open on his large desk. "Hitsugaya again I see… This has gotten interesting."

A knock on the door interrupted his scheming and he grumbled silently.

"Come in." Through the door, a dark haired individual came inside. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie and his silver eyes stared at the vice-principal playfully.

"Hey, old man."

The older male leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and resting his lips against his entwined fists. He raised a brow and studied the boy with a cold calculating eye. "Hello, _boy_. To what do I deserve this visit?"

"Cut the crap, Shinji. Get the hell out of that stupid disguise. And for the last time, don't call me 'boy!'" Daichi rolled his eyes and sat down on one of the large chairs in the room. "If you weren't so vital in our plans, I would have locked you up in a windowless room forever."

"Aw, don't be like that!" At the snap of his fingers, the illusion melted away. His black hair was now spiked and blonde, and his eyes switched from dark brown to green. The suit he wore also changed to a simple black vest and button down shirt, similar to a butler. A black rose was pinned to his shirt pocket. He grinned smugly and leaned back into the comfortable leather chair, crossing his legs in the process. "You know you can't be rid of me, buddy!"

"Unfortunately," Daichi sighed disappointedly and then crossed his arms. "So, about that progress report? Boss wants it ASAP."

"Ah, yeah. Let's see…" the man known as 'Shinji', rummaged through a drawer and pulled out three folders. "Here ya go. Although I have to wonder why he wants files on these humans. Their spiritual pressure isn't anything special."

"It's not the present state of the soul he's interested in. It's the previous condition." When Shinji gave the fellow daemon a blank stare, Daichi sighed. "You know that when a soul dies, it's reborn somewhere else. A human gets transferred to Soul Society. When a soul dies there it gets reborn in the human world, right?" The blonde nodded slowly and the dark-haired male rolled his eyes. "If so…then where do we daemons go?"

"Hm…you got a point there. We got no place in heaven or hell. Guess we got the short stick, huh Daichi?" he chuckled and stood up. "Alright man, I gotta get back to reconnaissance work. It's the only thing I got going, yeah? You should go before anyone comes in."

"Why? It's not like I got anyone in particular chasing me."

"Let the female populace of the school see you and you'll see. You also got another target in the folders. Fukuyama Eiko's her name." Shinji snapped his fingers and a dark red reiatsu surrounded him. His features changed once more, back into the vice-principal of Karakura High. His voice deepened from its normal pitch as well. The smug look never vanished though. "Off with you then, _boy_."

Daichi flinched and then grinned, the corners of his mouth twitching as well. "By the gods above Shinji… I will hang you from the tallest spire of hell before you can say 'mercy.'"

* * *

"Like hell you will!" a voice snapped as a loud crash was heard from inside the apartment. Reisha paced around like a caged tiger with a cell phone in her hand. A chuckle was heard on the speaker and she growled in response. "This is your fault in the first place! Why should I clean up your freaking mess?"

"In any event, he managed to obtain the information we needed on the war. Don't forget, Adachi. We had a deal, remember? You need to hold up your side of the bargain." The male on the other side of the line spoke. "Your servitude for his freedom, yes?"

She scoffed. "Tch, yeah. Kill the girl. I know that!" Reisha fell onto the couch and then blew dark strands of hair out of her face. Perhaps it was time to cut it again? "But bringing _him_ into the picture was not part of our deal! You know, I almost got screwed because of your shitty security!"

"…Our 'shitty' security, as you say, has managed to hold both you _and_ Kitazawa for a reasonable amount of time in the past. You do remember that, yes?"

"Yeah, but that ass was in charge then. At least he had a pair—"

"Adachi!" he snapped and she was silenced momentarily. "…Alright, we'll handle that him so he doesn't get in the way of your mission anymore. Is that a reasonable enough compromise?"

"Give him a thrashing for me while you're at it or so help me I'll do it myself." She vowed and snapped the phone shut. Reisha let out an exasperated groan and buried her face in her hands. "Gods…this is so confusing!"

"What's confusing?" asked the familiar voice from the doorway. Reisha lifted her head to see Archer staring at her with a brow raised. A plastic bag filled with something caught her eye.

"What's in the bag?"

"Yumi needed a few things for the festival so I picked them up for her." He set the bag down on the table and then crossed his arms over his chest. "Mind telling me who you were with on the phone?"

"…"

She went silent but kept his gaze. He frowned and then set something else on the table in front of her. "Here. I figured I should I should get you something. The guy at the store said he had extra so he gave it to me for free." After he quietly left the room, she picked up the small curious object. It was a small black compact mirror that had gold gilding on it. She flipped it open and saw her reflection. Tired and dull violet eyes stared back at her as she blinked. When had she gotten bags under her eyes? And was her hair _that_ messy?

Reisha recalled a time when someone told her to grow her hair out because it looked prettier. She had to laugh and a terrible (Yet playful) beating was wrought onto the speaker. Keeping it long was a hassel. It got in the way of her missions anyway and was a pain to care for. It got tangled easily and was a distraction. But…for a long while after his words, she felt a bubbly feeling in her chest whenever she found him catching glimpses of her hair. For a while, when she would bring a gleaming pair of scissors to her locks, she would hesitate.

Her mind reeled back to the 'incident' all those years ago and dropped the compact mirror she forgot was in her hands. It didn't break and instead reflected her shaken expression in its gaze.

She didn't pick it back up until Archer came back into the room, looking utterly clueless and worried about her strange behavior.

* * *

The walk back was pleasantly quiet. Hitsugaya was mainly leading the way in front while Yumi strayed a bit behind, taking in the beautiful changing leaves of the fall basking in the sunset's glow. Back in Soul Society, it hardly got like this. There were more trees here. All the forests were farther out, farther than where Yumi was allowed (Not that it stopped her occasionally). She was about to turn on a street when she noticed her captain turning the other way.

"Hitsugaya-kun? Where are you going?"

"You wanted to know my biggest stress reliever, didn't you?" he answered cryptically as she nodded slowly. She continued to follow him up the hill and was surprised to see him jump over the railing of the road. There, he leaned against the metal and looked ahead. "Well, this is it."

Yumi was confused. He was just looking up and resting against the railing (Which didn't look very comfy). Shrugging, she joined him and suddenly gasped. In front of her was most of Karakura Town. The hues of red and orange bathed the town in warm light. It was much more beautiful than the walk here.

"Wow…"

"Toshiro."

She blinked twice and turned to him in curiosity. "What?"

"My name," he rose a brow at her.

"I know that's your name, idiot. I'm wondering why you said it."

"You didn't say it before," he pointed out and she tried thinking back to when she didn't.

"But…I did."

"No, you called me 'Hitsugaya-kun'." He answered. She blinked before smiling slyly at him. When he felt her eyes on him, he shifted uncomfortably and turned back to the sky.

"But we're not at school."

"Practice makes perfect."

Yumi had to grin. She had just said that an hour ago and the fact he used that as a retort was a little…cute. "What about Taicho?"

"I don't need you calling me a captain and blowing our cover, Miyamoto."

"I mean when we get back to Soul Society. And I'm Yukina, remember?"

"Then just call me whatever you like," he sighed and stepped over the railing. "C'mon. Let's go back before Matsumoto begins to think I kidnapped you."

"Alright, Toshiro!" she giggled and followed behind him obediently. As they walked, she noticed him glance back at her every now and then before he sighed again and turned halfway.

"You walk too slow!" Hitsugaya huffed and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Hurry up…" He hesitated and then murmured something quietly. Yumi blinked before laughing and running ahead of him. In the process, she bumped into him playfully. "Hey!"

"It's about damn time!" she laughed playfully and ran ahead. The white-haired captain chuckled. If all he had to do was say her name to make her so happy, he would have done it earlier.

* * *

**A/N: I know, it's been months! I'M SORRY! But I'm tryin'! I lost inspiration for a while and decided to outline my outline, XD. It worked.**

**Bonus Story: The girl who could not beat Death, but did**

**...It sounds serious but it was meant to be funny...**

"Black jack."

"Damn it!"

"Heh...another one for me." the cloaked figure chuckled beneath his black hood. Yumi pouted and shuffled the cards.

"No fair... How come you always win?"

He shrugged and began examining his bony fingers. "I win because I have nothing to lose. You simply cannot cheat Death, Miyamoto-san."

The brunette narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Fine. One more game and I'll offer you something precious of mine."

'Death', if he could, raised his brow in interest and then rested his chin on his hand. "What more could you offer me, _Shinigami?"_

Yumi leaned over and whispered into his ear. His empty eye sockets piqued in interest and he nodded his head. The female Shinigami extended her hand of flesh to his bony one.

"Deal?"

"Deal."

* * *

_Later that day_

"...How...? How could I have been...defeated?"

"You brought it upon yourself. Poor soul... Shall I have mercy?"

"No, a deal is a deal... You played your part well." The lord of death chuckled, its hollow sound resounded sadly. "It's remarkable. You are the first to beat death in such a way. What is this game? It was quite intriguing" Bodies lay strewn about, lying prone in all directions and ways. Moans of pain ecaped many as well as the dead silence of others. Crimson liquid was spilt all around the floor and a sharp stench filled the air, like bile, sickness, and hot curry infused cake.

Yumi grinned evily and held both a joker and a king in her hand. "Mafia, Orihime style."

"Yes, I see. So this human's cooking can even affect a god...impressive-or shall I say dangerous..." he coughed, still feeling the lingering effects of her red bean and mustard ramen, and mapo tofu surprise... Never...again...

"Now, pay up!"

"Here. I leave this to you... And I pray I never see you in the near future," Death shuddered and offered her a package wrapped in black silk. "Lest I risk the chance of becoming your opponent once more."

"Point taken. Now get outta here before my captain sees me messing with ya." When the bony apparition disappeared, she carefully began to unwrap the bundle until the door opened. her captain's eyes were wide open as he took in the macabre scene of most likely dead bodies on the floor of Orihime's apartment. The busty red-head was no where to be found.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Oh, nothing, Taicho." she hummed cheerfully and opened the package fully to reveal a black album. An album that would keep her black mailing business open for a loooong time. She flipped it open and quickly scanned the pictures of embarassing and top secret moments of everyone on the gotei 13. "Nothing at all."

A/N: If it's too confusing...she fed Death Orihime's cooking. As for the people...I dunno, make it up. This was a random spur of the moment thing. XD


	11. Crunch Time

**Title: **Kyrie Eleison

**Chapter: **Crunch Time

**Disclaimer: **I do not own bleach nor do I claim to. Actually, I said long ago that bleach governs over me, lol

**Listening to: **O'Child (By Nevertheless)

Time to get a bit more serious, right? I've been putting it off for a while! Since I've been behind, I'm skipping the extra scenes I was going to put (basically, cutting out most of the filler parts). I'm putting a recap too since this story has been…neglected, as of late…

* * *

**Recap:**

Shortly after the Ryoka incident in Soul Society, it came time to deal with the Daemon prisoners, a race that was long thought to be wiped clean out of the history books. A burglary took place and the blurry security surveillance all pointed to the two captive Daemons. In haste, Miyamoto Yumiko and Hitsugaya Toshiro spoke in their defense. In doing so, Yumi was sent to the sixth division temporarily for close observation, outside of Hitsugaya's watch. The Soutaicho then called the tenth division captain in, once more asking what his relationship with her was. In exchange for keeping contact with Yumi, Hitsugaya was offered all the information on her that no one else had access to. He quickly declined, choosing to silently protect her of his own choosing, not of his order.

At the same time, mysterious disappearances were reported in the human world. Urahara Kisuke was found by Kurosaki Ichigo, wounded and nearly unconscious. Hitsugaya was asked to search it and to bring the Daemon prisoners with him to aid in the investigation. As a safeguard, both Adachi Reisha and Sayomi Archer were outfitted with "Death Collars", a mechanism that would activate should they go against orders or did anything out of line. In order to investigate the situation further, both Yumi and Hitsugaya are disguised as siblings attending Karakura High.

Reisha was given a 'tip' as to where Aeon, the Daemon organization, would strike: the Culture Festival.

* * *

**Day 9: 5 more days before Festival**

"You're doing it wrong!"

"I know what I'm doing!"

"You're going to break it. The class has no money to get another one either."

"Oh, shut up, Toshiro!" Yumi growled and resisted the urge to throw the black paint at his face. Maybe then his hair wouldn't stand out as much.

Both of them were charged with creating the stage sets and props since they've been skipping a lot of practices. The reason? Hollows were one and Soul Society was another. Not to mention they were still planning Aeon's attack.

"Hey, Toshiro?" she couldn't help but smile, still a little happy that she could call him by his name now. He grunted his acknowledgment. "Do you really think Aeon is going to attack at the festival?"

"Well, it's a good tactic. We've been over this before. Our defense will be spread around the perimeter and—"

"So all those people might get hurt." Yumi interrupted. She sighed and continued painting her failed attempt at a daisy. Actually, it looked more like a strange discolored blob on a stick. "How cruel."

"I think what's cruel is how you're mutilating that flower…if it could be called one." He noted and she groaned.

"Well I'd like to see you try Mr—" she looked at his side and her jaw almost dropped. He managed to paint a whole bush of red roses and even got the shading done. Yumi pouted and crossed her arms. "I didn't know you could paint."

"When you spend the centuries with a calligraphy brush in hand while doing paperwork, you tend to get bored." He replied simply but he couldn't hold back the smug smirk on his face. Then he looked at her side. "You're trying too hard. Ease up."

"Oh shut up," as soon as she said that, both of their cell phones rang, signaling a hollow. "Not now!"

"Should I get it?"

"No. I obviously can't paint, so you stay while I go!"

"…Can you even handle it without tripping over yourself?" he asked skeptically.

Yumi's brow twitched. "You have no faith in me, do you?"

The sound of footsteps near the door became apparent as well as loud banging. "Hitsugaya-sans? I hope you're doing your work!" It was miss class president, Tomoe.

"I'll cover for you this once, so don't get yourself killed." He said, cleaning his brush.

"I'll be back in a flash!" she mock saluted and ran out through the other door. At the same time, Tomoe came in and raised a brow in suspicion upon seeing only one sibling.

"Where is Yukina-chan?"

"Bathroom." He replied simply, focusing only on the gray bricks he was now painting.

"I hope you can both finish this in time _and_ remember your lines." She said sternly and walked out, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the auditorium. Hitsugaya was mildly surprised. Out of all the girls, she was the one out to get him the most. The girl was stressed. Far too stressed out to only be over the festival. Hitsugaya also noted the familiar tired and worn look, as if fighting a mental debate with herself.

He clicked his tongue and continued with his work. There was nothing else for her to worry about. He was probably thinking into it too much.

* * *

Yumi rolled her shoulder blades as the shrill death cry of the hollow pierced her ears.

"Ah, don't be so loud!" she complained and cleaned the blood off her blade. She cringed even at the feeling of the thick liquid through the cleaning cloth. It was a strange contradiction. She was someone who hated and feared blood and yet she was a Shinigami. Her job was to be surrounded death, to bring death, and to be death.

Well, at least to the souls she saved and the creatures she hunted. Shinigami: a Death God.

"Tch, far from it." She mused and sheathed her sword. "Hm, I should get back before Toshiro decides to throw the paint at me instead!"

"That should be the least of your worries."

"Gah!" Yumi jumped and nearly tripped while turning around. "Daichi!"

"Ah, now that sounds familiar…" the dark-haired male chuckled. "How are you doing, kid?"

"W-Why are you here!" she asked and put a shaking hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Calm down. I'm not here to kidnap you…yet." His silver eyes glinted dangerously and Yumi tensed. A wide grin broke out on his face and he held out his hands in a gesture of peace. "Truce?"

She hesitated before nodding and eased the tension in her hand. "Alright… So, why the visit?"

"Let's not talk here. How about a change in location?" he gave a thoughtful look before disappearing. Yumi only had a moment to take a breath before she felt herself get hugged from behind. "Sorry, but this might feel a bit strange." All of a sudden, the world felt like it was spinning, yet at the same time only moving in one direction. What felt like a few minutes was only a few seconds. When everything settled down, Yumi saw herself on the hill her captain brought her to a few days ago.

"This is…"

"Nice place your captain found," Daichi leaned back against the metal rail and motioned her over. "You coming?"

"Reniteo… Right?" Yumi asked and cautiously made her way to the rail. "A Daemon Art that made up the basics of Shunpo, the flash-step."

"You've done your homework. I wonder how?"

She said nothing as she studied him from the edges of her peripheral vision. This Kitazawa Daichi was a real mystery… They didn't exactly meet on good terms… Then again, the same was with Reisha and she went out of her way to teach her a thing or two about that voice in the back of her head (Although admitting that still makes her feel a little insane). There was also the relationship between him and Archer. What must have happened between those two to cause so much tension?

"Y'know…if you wanna know something you're going to have to open that mouth of yours." He laughed at her surprised expression as she sputtered excuses.

"I wasn't—erm… You didn't-! GAH!"

"Here, why don't you ask me a few things? I'm feeling rather nice today anyway," he spoke cockily and Yumi refused the urge to smack the look off his face for information. "Feel free to ask anything! About Aeon, about our plans, anything."

"How did you and Archer meet?"

Needless to say, both of them were surprised at her question. It escaped her throat faster than she thought was possible. She should have asked something with more substance. Maybe "Who are you working for?" or "How many Daemons are in Aeon?" He stared at her in surprise, an emotion she wasn't familiar with on his usually smug features. Daichi finally exhaled and looked down at his shoes.

"…It was about a thousand years ago I think. Give or take a century or two. We were some kids that were lucky enough to have each others backs in Soul Society. We even found a girl and took care of her. Like a family" He paused briefly.

More questions came to mind, like 'You were in Soul Society?' and 'Why are you still here after a thousand years? You should have been reborn into the human world by now.' but she kept her mouth shut this time and waited for him to continue.

"We grew up together and eventually helped each other survive. At this time, a huge war broke out between Soul Society and the hollows, although the history books say Soul Society won." His brows furrowed in anger and disgust. "Tch… Damned fools… It wasn't a war. It was a massacre. Soul Society was on the losing end until they began to get desperate."

Yumi hesitated but then spoke in a low whisper. "…is this where they took souls and…fused them with cursed animals?"

"…yeah." He sighed and then took his hands out of his pockets to stare at them. Every now and then her would open and close his fists. "Daemons. We're cursed souls. When we die, where do we go? Heaven? Hell? The human world? Or do we just disappear into spirit particles like everything else? So many years have passed and I still think about it..."

"Daichi…" Yumi whispered, sadness stabbing at her. So he was like Archer… So why would they harbor so much hate for each other still if they grew up together? "Do you hate Archer?"

Daichi met eyes with her for the first time since her question began, silver and amethyst. She saw sadness, anger, fear, and most of all regret. All those emotions swirled in his eyes and she suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"No… I never will." He finally answered and allowed a small smile. It was sad yet genuine. Then, it was gone as soon as it appeared. He shook his head, as if denying himself the emotions he just felt and looked at her seriously. "Question time is over now. But I do have to ask you something…" He paused once more. "How much do you trust her? Adachi I mean."

"…To be honest I don't want to." Yumi frowned. "But I do. She's already helped me out with some of my problems. If I don't give a little, then I'll surely get kicked in the ass by karma."

"Do you trust her enough to risk your precious captain getting injured? Or killed?" Yumi froze and looked at Daichi's eyes in fear.

"W-What?"

"You have a traitor or two in your ranks… Apparently, Aeon found out about your little plan to keep us from completing our objective." Daichi met her stare with a straight face. "I highly doubt Arch would be the one to do it. That leaves Adachi…or maybe you're in on it and you don't even know it?" he grinned and Yumi growled at his accusation.

"Idiot! How could I know? I don't even know…how we got the info in the first place…" Her eyes widened. The only ones that knew about the new information were Archer and Reisha. So how…?

"I don't care if your little guardian bites the bullet, but when your safety is at risk, I can't stand by." His fists closed tightly.

Yumi's eyes softened for a moment. She was puzzled. "Daichi…who's side are you on?"

He laughed bitterly and smirked. "There's more to Aeon than just bringing a few traitors back. They're looking for something and won't stop 'til they find it. If you don't want your precious captain to get killed faster, I advise you watch your teacher carefully. Feel free to tell Taicho-san about your encounter with me, too. I don't care. All the more for him to lose sleep over." The Daemon then began slowly walking off, waving at her without looking back. Yumi frowned but then held her head down.

"What is that guy thinking?" she went into thought until she noticed the sun quickly falling below the horizon. "Crap! I left Toshiro at school! Shit! He'll be so pissed!"

* * *

"Pissed is an understatement…" Hitsugaya stated in growing anger. Yumi grimaced, sitting nervously on the couch of her apartment as he stood in front of her with his arms across his chest. "I told you to hurry back and what do you do? I see you walking aimlessly around distracted! What if a hollow attacked you? Or worse, Aeon?"

"Don't worry, they won't." she answered with a sigh. Her mind couldn't focus on her little lecture right now.

'_**You're not going to tell him, are you?'**_ It was that incessant voice again. At this point, Yumi was getting used to its presence. It wasn't overly annoying anyway. There were a few inputs here and there, but sometimes they could be mistaken for conversations with herself.

'He's worrying about enough right now. It's my turn to keep him safe now.' She thought. 'He needs to relax more. My choices are limited anyway. Reisha or Archer. Easy enough, right?'

'_**Careful, dummy. You're forgetting something.'**_ It spoke and Yumi could imagine matching dark amber eyes narrowing in frustration_. __**'He may be the one leading you on. I mean really, Reisha's been teaching you how to control yourself. Would she if she was gonna capture you? Look, all I'm saying is don't make an answer based on how you want it to turn out.'**_

Yumi made no reply and finally tuned in on her shout session with her captain.

"Do you understand?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"So, you'll willingly do the paperwork for Matsumoto and I for a year?"

"Yeah—What?" Yumi's eyes widened as she stared at him, taken aback by his smug smirk. She narrowed her eyes into a glare. "You're evil."

"Get some sleep, Miyamoto. You're getting bags under your eyes." He dropped the banter that would have started as Yumi blinked.

"Are you sick? You're being surprisingly lenient today, Toshiro."

"I'm plotting your impending punishment, so be prepared." He answered and threw a towel over his shoulder. "By the way, I'm staying here tonight since Matsumoto is…cooking with Inoue-san."

"So, Taicho is scared of Orihime, huh?" She grinned and resisted laughing at the shudder he tried to suppress. "Maybe I should try cooking this time… Both Daichi and Reisha can't cook anyway."

He raised a brow. "So what have you been eating all this time?" Hitsugaya flared for a moment at her in suspicion. "I swear if I see more ramen than necessary in the trash bins I'm confiscating it."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you can cook since you're so good at everything else…" she grumbled, not noticing his grimace. "So, gonna take a shower or not?" The captain merely sighed and disappeared into the bathroom. Once she heard the water going, she went to the kitchen fridge to see what to make. "Hmmm…he'll kill me if I make ramen… Maybe I should make Oden? It's getting cold anyway…" On cue, Archer entered the apartment from his wandering Karakura. Yumi only guessed that Reisha was still at Urahara's. "Archer! Run to the store and get these ingredients!" While speaking, she wrote all the things she'd need to make dinner.

He pouted childishly. "Aw, but c'mon! I just got back!"

Her amethyst eyes narrowed dangerously. "Go. Now. You owe me for feeding you all this whole time, freeloaders!"

"You sound like Urahara…" he muttered and grudgingly took the list before disappearing with Reniteo. Yumi got a few things ready: pots, pans, left over vegetables, fish cake, and daikon radish.

How did Yumi know how to cook? Well for one, Ruriko. Despite her calm composure, Yumi found that if you put a cookbook in front of her she'll go crazy… For two, she had to put up with criticism from both Daemon 'captives' if they could be called that… Seriously, they're getting pampered here.

She began boiling water when Hitsugaya came out of the shower. Curious, he went into the kitchen to see her cutting ingredients already.

"So you _can_ cook." He said with a hint of surprise. "I thought anything outside the realm of ramen was out of your league…"

She punched him playfully. "I had to learn or Reisha would kill me." He gave her a long look before she laughed. "Kidding! …kinda… Anyway, can you help me? Archer's coming back soon with the other ingredients but we have some here. Boil these for me?" She handed him four eggs and vinegar. "Soft boiled and only a bit of vinegar for six minutes."

"Why do I have to help?" even while saying it, he took another pot to boil since she already put cabbage in the other pot.

"Because I'm feeding you." Yumi laughed and heard Archer coming back in. She hadn't expected anything else out of this night. For a moment, the fear of Aeon's attack and the possibility of hurting him were forgotten—disappearing like the steam from the broth.

* * *

**Day 12: 2 Days until the festival**

Things at the shrine were coming the together. Stalls were being set up and colors were blossoming around the town. The reds, yellows and oranges of the leaves stood out even more against the bright blue sky. Even better, the weather was supposed to last far after the culture festival.

"Wow…the breeze feels so nice…" Yumi stretched across the cool grass underneath a tree. "Ne, Eiko-chan? Is it like this every year?"

The redhead nodded and grinned. She was also stretched out, although she had set out a picnic blanket that Yumi refused to lay on. "Mm-hm! You should come here more often! Isn't it like this in Inaba too?"

Ruriko sipped her tea (For some odd reason she was always found with some) and let out a breath. "Most likely she was focused on trying not to trip over a fence."

"Ha-ha! Seriously Yuki-nee! How could you trip over a fence like that? It was like you were a zombie!" her sister Fumiko giggled. Yumi laughed nervously. Truth be told, she had been thinking about what would happen in two days time. If Daichi was right, then Reisha was in on it? She hadn't acted outside her usual sarcasm and downright bitchyness. Wait…that was actually on the rise…

"Yuki-chama? You spaced out again, you alien!" Eiko laughed and Yumi scratched the back of her head.

"Eh? Oh… Sorry about that!"

Fumiko smiled smugly. "Thinking about that hot stud?" Yumi's face flushed red and the girl grinned even wider. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"FU-CHAN!"

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya was fixing a stall was some classmates came over, chuckling the whole way.

"Hey, Hitsugaya!" one of them began. He grunted an acknowledgement. "You know what kind of guys your sister digs, right?"

The captain raised his brow after turning towards the group of boys. "Why should I know?

"Oh c'mon! Lend a fellow classmate a hand!" one of them pleaded and Hitsugaya's hand twitched. He stopped whatever he was doing and began walking away.

"I don't owe you anything. Figure it out yourself." His tone was harsh and icy, causing them to flinch. Well, except for one of them. His green eyes flashed in interest and he chuckled.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna talk with him a bit more."

"Don't get frozen, Shinji! I swear I felt a chill when he glared at us!"

The spiked blonde smirked and ran after the white haired boy. He found him leaning against the Takoyaki stand with his arms crossed as he stared at the ground.

"Someone's a protective brother." Hitsugaya's head shot up in surprise and he turned to the newcomer. "'Names Shinji. So, Hitsugaya… What's you're deal?"

The captain's eyes narrowed in suspicion. 'Strange…I didn't sense him… Even humans have traces of reiryukuu…' he thought. "Nothing."

"Oh really? Well at least tell me this…" the boy grinned and leaned against the stand next to him. He shoved his hands into his pocket and looked up to the sky. "Tell me why Shinigami are so interested in Daemons?"

Hitsugaya tensed and backed away from the boy. "What?"

Shinji chuckled. "You don't think we know? Oh, don't tell me she hasn't told you? Your little 'pet'." The captain said nothing and Shinji rolled his eyes. "Here's a hint. You have two jokers in a deck. One tells lies while the other keeps secrets. Can you weed them out, oh chivalrous knight?"

The captain felt like he heard something similar to those words. Back in Soul Society when Yumi was inebriated…

"_Don't get too attached. There are rules on how to play this game… Illusions cast by a joker will not break, even to the sword of a knight."_

"What are you talking about? Decks and jokers… What the hell?"

"Here are your options," Shinji ignored him. "Hinamori Momo and Miyamoto Yumiko. You have two days to choose."

"Choose one for what?"

The blonde turned his back to the captain. His peridot eyes met emerald ones in an expression of bewilderment, as if he couldn't believe that he didn't know. "Who's the liar and who's keeping secrets?"

* * *

Sorry for the long wait. I have no excuse. It was once again writers block. Originally I was gonna put more days inbetween but it's getting boring (From my POV anyway). So i'm making a skip. Next chapter will be the Culture Festival that we've all been waiting for. What will happen?

**Shinji and 'Yumi' have both mentioned cards at least once in the story. What could this mean?**

**Daichi is finally opening up, but at what cost? What could this scheming Daemon have up his sleeve now?**

**What could possibly go wrong? Will Aeon succeed? What are they even after?**

**Answer in a _REVIEW _please!**


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